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Deborah James (journalist)

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Dame Deborah Anne James DBE (1 October 1981 – 28 June 2022) was an English journalist, educator, podcast host and charity campaigner from London. In 2016, she was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer and went on to host the You, Me and the Big C podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live about her struggles with her illness.

Dame
Deborah James
DBE
James receiving her damehood insignia in 2022
Born
Deborah Anne James

(1981-10-01)1 October 1981
Chertsey, Surrey, England
Died28 June 2022(2022-06-28) (aged 40)
Woking, Surrey, England
Cause of deathBowel cancer
Alma materUniversity of Exeter
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • educator
  • podcaster
  • charity campaigner
Years active2017–2022
Known forYou, Me and the Big C
Spouse
Sebastien Bowen
​
(m. 2008)​
Children2
Websitebowelbabe.org

Personal life

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James was born in Chertsey, Surrey on 1 October 1981 to Heather and Alistair James.[1][2] She attended Salesian School, Chertsey, later going on to study economics at the University of Exeter. Her mother was a gymnastics coach,[3] and James trained at Woking Gymnastics Club. By the age of nine, she was training 30 hours a week.[4] James married Sebastien Bowen in 2008; the couple had two children.[1][5]

Career, illness and death

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James was a deputy head teacher specialising in computer science and e-learning at Salesian School, Chertsey, and later moving to the Matthew Arnold School in Staines-upon-Thames where she worked up until her diagnosis with bowel cancer. She began working as a journalist and columnist for The Sun, detailing her cancer journey.[1] In March 2018, she began presenting the You, Me and the Big C podcast for BBC Radio 5, alongside fellow cancer patients Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland, the latter of whom died in September 2018.[6]

The Guardian described the podcast as unique for its "frankness, honesty and humour" and James as "its outrageous heart"; she was open about graphic details of her bowel cancer and once asked the Olympic swimmer Steve Parry whether he ejaculated twice or half as much after surviving testicular cancer.[3] In October 2018, she released her book F*** You Cancer: How to Face the Big C, Live Your Life and Still Be Yourself.[7][8]

In June 2021, after undergoing multiple treatments,[9] James said her cancer was moving in "the wrong direction" and that the drugs she was relying on were no longer effective.[10] In May 2022, James posted an update on her condition on social media, stating that she was receiving hospice-at-home care and that "her body just couldn't continue anymore".[11][12][13] Less than 48 hours after her post, over £3 million was raised for her campaign, the Bowelbabe Fund.[14][15][16][17] Two days later, James was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to charity and cancer awareness.[18] She received her damehood from Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, at her parental home.[19][20][21]

In her final days, James lived at her parents' house in Woking, Surrey, where she died on 28 June 2022, aged 40, from cancer.[22][23][24]

At the time of her death, her fundraising website bowelbabe.org had accumulated nearly £7 million to fund "clinical trials and research into personalised medicine for cancer patients and supporting campaigns to raise awareness of bowel cancer".[25] Her final message read:[25] "find a life worth enjoying; take risks; love deeply; have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope. And finally, check your poo – it could just save your life."

Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson described her as "an absolute inspiration",[26] and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said in a statement, "Deborah was an inspirational and unfalteringly brave woman whose legacy will live on."[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Deborah James interview: 'I don't want to be a victim… being a sob story won't change anything'". The Times. 20 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Dame Deborah James obituary". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b Rogers, Jude (29 June 2022). "Dame Deborah James obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  4. ^ James, Deborah (12 April 2017). "A Big Dipper". bowelbabe. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Deborah James on living with bowel cancer during Covid: 'We mustn't forget about cancer patients'". The Times. 7 March 2021. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  6. ^ "BBC presenter Rachael Bland's final podcast revealed after her death". Digital Spy. 13 September 2018. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Deborah James: how to live it up when you're dying". The Times. 9 July 2021. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Deborah James: 'We threw everything at COVID. Why can't we do the same for cancer'". The Daily Telegraph. 1 October 2021. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  9. ^ "'Bowelbabe' explains new NanoKnife cancer surgery technique". Sky News. 7 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Deborah James of You, Me and the Big C says her cancer is 'heading quickly in wrong direction'". The Times. 21 June 2021. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Deborah James: My body can't continue, says You, Me and the Big C podcast host". BBC News. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Deborah James, podcaster and cancer campaigner, breaks tragic news to followers: 'No-one knows how long I've got left'". Sky News. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  13. ^ "'Nobody knows how long I've got left': Deborah James moves to hospice care after stopping bowel cancer treatment". The Independent. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Deborah James: cancer podcast host 'blown away' after followers donate £1m to research fund". The Times. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Bowelbabe cancer blogger Deborah James receiving hospice at home care". The Guardian. 10 May 2022. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Deborah James 'cannot thank people enough' after £2m raised for Bowelbabe Fund". The Guardian. 11 May 2022. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Deborah James: 'I want to die listening to my family, I want to hear the normal buzz of life as I go'". The Times. 11 May 2022. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  18. ^ "No. 63727". The London Gazette. 13 June 2022. p. 11091.
  19. ^ "Deborah James made a dame by William at her home". BBC News. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Deborah James, host of Big C podcast, honoured with damehood". BBC News. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  21. ^ "Court Circular, May 13–15 2022". The Times. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Dame Deborah James: Cancer campaigner dies aged 40". BBC News. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Deborah James dies: Podcaster and cancer campaigner passes away aged 40". Sky News. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  24. ^ "Podcaster Dame Deborah James dies of bowel cancer aged 40". The Guardian. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  25. ^ a b Bubola, Emma (28 June 2022). "Deborah James, British Cancer Campaigner and Podcaster, Dies at 40". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  26. ^ a b "Dame Deborah James: Tributes paid to 'unfalteringly brave' cancer campaigner". BBC News. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
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