Earlier this week, Deborah James, who is battling cancer, announced she had been transferred to a hospice at home. In a post on her social media channels, she said: “It’s time to say goodbye.”
Friends and followers commented on her posts with messages of love and support, including podcast presenter Emily Clarkson, former British Bake Off winner Candice Brown, burn survivor and campaign activist Katie Piper OBE and ITV presenter Susanna Reed.
Clarkson wrote, “I love you, Deb, thank you for being a phenomenal friend and a relentless inspiration,” while Reed said, “You are the most amazing person. I send my love to you and your family. ”
“You have changed the lives of so many people, spread so much joy and kindness,” Piper added. “Eternal impact.”
An educator who has become a campaign against cancer, James has never strayed from the realities of his illness since he was first diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in 2016, at the age of 35.
The podcast host is constantly working to raise awareness about getting bowel cancer at an early age through the UK’s To Too Young bowel cancer charity campaign.
In the last five years of her diagnosis, James has run marathons, organized a charity ball and participated in numerous fundraising challenges between cancer treatments, successfully raising £ 60,000 for the charity by the time she was named patron. in February 2021
I know we haven’t left a stone unturned. But … my body just can’t go on anymore.
Deborah James
She is loved for her sincere and candid approach to sharing her life experience with the disease. Her candid discussions with co-hosts Lauren Mahan and Rachel Bland in the acclaimed podcast You, Me and the Big C have resonated with hundreds of thousands of listeners in the UK.
There is no cancer topic if it is banned in the podcast discussions of James and her online column for The Sun, Things Cancer Me Say. From the brutal effects of chemotherapy on her body to near-death experiences, to celebrating her body despite Internet trolls, James’s distinct voice paved the way for difficult, fun, and intimate conversations about cancer.
James, now 40, wrote in his social media posts on Monday (May 9th) that this was “the message I never wanted to write”, but added that she was surrounded by her “amazing family”. James is married to Pomona Capital banker Sebastian Bowen, with whom she shares two children, 14-year-old Hugo and 12-year-old Eloise.
She added: “Nobody knows how much time I have left.
“I know we have not left a stone unturned. But even with all the innovative drugs for cancer in the world or some new magical breakthrough, my body just can’t go on. ”
Before becoming an outspoken activist and fundraiser for cancer treatment and awareness, James was a deputy teacher. She was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in December 2016 and has since shared her journey in search of treatment with her 300,000 followers.
Describing in detail how she received her diagnosis in December 2016, James said she started seeking medical advice “after a change in bowel habits”, but was reassured by her doctors that nothing was wrong.
“And yet I was still losing weight, passing blood, passing 100 times a day and feeling broken,” she said. “I knew something was wrong with me… I was scared for the first time – I was very afraid not to go on with it.”
Later, James went to a private medical professional to perform a colonoscopy, which revealed a mucinous tumor, a subtype of colorectal cancer, found in 10 to 15 percent of patients.
The tumor also had a BRAF mutation, “the rarest and most difficult to treat due to its lack of response to [chemotherapy], aggressive makeup or lack of a “wonderful” immunotherapeutic drug, “she wrote. The mutation occurs in a gene that makes a protein involved in cell growth, which can lead to cell growth and division too quickly.
James began a joint presentation of You, Me and the Big C in 2018. Her co-host Bland died six months after the show began at the age of 40, after being diagnosed with breast cancer two years earlier.
The podcast won several awards after receiving praise for the style of discussion about the disease in the “confessional booth”. He won the podcast of the year at the TV and Radio Industry Club Awards in March 2019.
James is also the author of two books. The first is titled F *** You Cancer: How to Face the Big C, Live Your Life and Stay Yourself, published in 2018, and her second, How to Live When You Can Be Dead, came out in April 2021
In 2020, James was selected to fundraise for the JustGiving Celebrity of the Year and was also awarded an honorary doctorate in civil law at the Royal Marsden School, where she was invited to speak at the graduation ceremony.
My whole family is around me and we will dance through it together, sunbathe and laugh at every possible moment!
Deborah James
During the Covid-19 pandemic, James began to highlight the impact the virus had on cancer patients. She shared the personal stories of patients who were affected by tests and treatments that were canceled as a result of a blockade in the BBC documentary Panorama Britain’s Cancer Crisis, which was released on 6 July 2020.
As part of his farewell message published on Monday, May 9, James performed his last major charity event by launching the Bowelbabe Cancer Research Fund in the UK to raise money to fund clinical trials and research in personalized medicine for cancer patients, as well as support campaigns to raise awareness of bowel cancer.
Within 12 hours of launch, the fund exceeded its initial target of £ 250,000 and reached £ 1 million on 10 May. As of Friday, May 13, the fund had raised more than £ 4 million. In an Instagram story, James writes: “The most generous people I know. Let’s show the cancer who’s boss! ”
James was also honored with a female title for her efforts in the campaign. Announcing the news on Thursday, May 12, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “If honor has ever been fully deserved, it is. Deborah was an inspiration, and her honesty, warmth and courage are a source of strength for so many people.
“Through her tireless campaign and so open sharing of her experience, she has not only helped in our fight against this terrible disease, she has ensured that countless others with the Big C do not feel alone.
In response to the headline, James said she was “amazed” and “crying out of honor.”
In a statement on its Bowelbabe Fund website, James said he planned to do things “day by day, step by step and be grateful for another sunrise.”
“Everyone around me has been working hard over the last few weeks to fix everything. My whole family is around me and we will dance through it together, sunbathe and laugh at every possible moment! ”
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