Bowelbabe Fund reveal they have raised £11.3 million
The late Dame Deborah James, 40, revealed that she decided to focus on her family after her stage four cancer diagnosis.
The mother-of-two revealed that her long work hours had affected her family life and left little time for her children, Hugo, 15, and Eloise, 13.
Speaking in the post-humous BBC Two documentary, Bowelbabe: In Her Own Words, she revealed: “I was very career-driven, a workaholic.
“I was never there at any sports days, plays, whatever it was. I had my priorities wrong, but I didn’t know it at the time.”
At the time, Deborah had been working as a deputy headteacher whilst training to become a headteacher.
However, after finding out about her devastating diagnosis, Deborah changed how she approached family life.
“I’ve got a much better relationship with my kids, as a result of my cancer.
“I think it changes you. I wish something else had changed me.”
The former teacher also made the decision to document her cancer journey online, launching the blog, BowelBabe, which saw Deborah gain almost one million followers on Instagram.
Via her blog and social media, she raised more than £11 million for charity and raised awareness for bowel cancer while undergoing treatment.
It also helped Deborah prepare her children for a future without her, leaving memories online for them to collect whenever they need.
She added: “Everything that I do and the experiences that we have together, for me, are about making memories today that will last a lifetime.
“That’s my way of dealing with it. So [Hugo and Eloise] can look back at my Instagram and go, “oh yeah – look, that’s mummy speaking. That’s her podcasts.
“And, for me, I take quite a lot of comfort in that actually.”
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However, not all responses to her digital activity were positive, and she also spoke in the archival documentary about how she had been affected by cruel comments online.
She added: “People saying, ‘Oh she’s stage four anyway, I’m surprised they bothered to save her.’
“Reading things like that when you have just come through a trauma is absolutely hideous.”
Deborah’s banker husband, Sebastien James, spoke about his late wife earlier this month in his first TV interview since her death in June 2022.
“I think she died in probably one of the best ways you could hope to die with this terrible disease,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Commissioning Editor for BBC Storyville also commented on the 80-minute special: “It’s an incredibly powerful and beautiful piece – emotional, intimate and unique.
“With enormous warmth and good humour, the documentary echoes the powerful, honest and direct way that Deborah communicated as if she were talking to a friend or confidante.”
Deborah James: Bowelbabe In Her Own Words airs on BBC Two on April 17 at 9pm.
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