PRINCE William tonight paid a heartfelt tribute to Dame Deborah James – as her family revealed her legacy fund has hit a staggering £12.6million.
The Prince of Wales has been a huge supporter of the Sun columnist, helping to organise and award her a Damehood in 24 hours last May, in the final weeks of her life.
Wills appeared on Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer show, recording a special message as part of a tribute to Debs.
The heir to the throne said: “Dame Deborah James was one of those special people who can unite and inspire others with the sheer force of her spirit.
“She encouraged us all to live life to the fullest, tackle the toughest challenges with strength and bravery, and to rally together to stand up to cancer.
“Deborah truly made a difference to the lives of so many, breaking the taboos that can prevent people from having their symptoms checked.
“In the months leading up to, and after her death, the NHS saw a substantial increase in the number of people being refereed for bowel cancer checks in the UK.
“Millions of pounds were raised in Deborah’s name, the Bowelbabe fund for Cancer Research UK, and associated charities.
“Which will have given more people affected by cancer more time with the people they love.
“Deborah’s legacy continues to help break down stigmas and ultimately help people live longer lives.
“It was an honour to meet Deborah and her family and present her with her damehood.
“I will never forget her kindness, warmth, and honesty, let’s all learn from and be inspired by her passion for life.”
Deb’s mum Heather also appeared on the sofa with host Davina McCall and said: “Watching this brings back lovely memories.”
When speaking of her daughter’s death, she explained: “It’s hit me more now more than ever.
“Grief is a funny thing, I hit rock bottom on the anniversary.”
Deborah’s father, Alistair said: “I probably feel it in different ways, Deborah was in awe of the people who worked in the Crick.
“This would have been the perfect evening to her.”
They shared that her children have been doing very well as they had been with their mum throughout the process.
“I’m so proud of them the way they’re coping.” added Heather.
“Deborah said ‘don’t use me dying as an excuse to mess up your life'”.
“She was always very open with them,” said Alistair.
The mum-of-two died at the age of 40 in June 2022, five and a half years after she was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer.
Given just days to live, the fearless campaigner launched her Bowelbabe Fund to raise money to help prevent others from facing her fate.
Within a week she smashed her target of £250,000, raising £1million – and now, the fund has hit a staggering £12.6million.
Her parents Heather and Alistair James also appeared on SU2C last night, chatting to host Davina McCall.
They told The Sun: “We’re immensely proud that Deborah’s BowelBabe Fund has now reached £12.6million – it’s well beyond her wildest dreams.
“Knowing our daughter, she would be thinking, ‘that’s great, but let’s keep going’.
“It was very special for us to be there last night. Deborah was a passionate supporter of SU2C ever since her diagnosis, and was determined to do what she could to help spread the awareness message.
“It is very hard, evenings like these are a reminder that Deborah is no longer with us, we know how much she would’ve loved it – especially being at The Crick Institute.
“Deborah was a huge, self-confessed science geek.
“After her diagnosis, she didn’t expect to live longer than a year, but thanks to various clinical trials and scientific breakthroughs we were given five and a half years with her.
“She often said she was ‘riding on the wings of science’ and she felt so passionate about raising money to help fund more research, in the hope it would help others like her.
“Her wish was that one day we might live in a world where her children don’t have to fear cancer.
“She would be utterly blown away at knowing her Bowelbabe Fund has raised so much money, that will go towards making that dream a reality.”
A spokesperson for Prince William, who visited Deborah at her parent’s home in Woking to honour her with a Damehood, previously said: “This is a truly fantastic milestone.
“Thanks to the generosity of so many, the impact and legacy of Dame Deborah’s life will be felt for many years to come.”
Meanwhile Prime Minister Rishi Sunak praised Dame Debs’ “tireless campaigning to educate us all about bowel cancer”.
“Dame Deborah brought honesty, she brought humour but most of all she brought with her a key message to raise awareness, which has no doubt saved lives,” he said.
“Deborah’s legacy lives on, that ‘rebellious hope’ she told us all to have is not only smashing funding targets but continuing to save lives.
“Thank you BowelBabe and to all those who have donated.”
Five cutting-edge projects were the first to benefit from £4million raised by the awe-inspiring Dame Debs’ – and more will follow.
Professor Trevor Graham, the Director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at The Institute of Cancer Research, is now hoping to discover how bowel cancer spreads – and put a stop to it with the influx of funds.
Meanwhile the OPTIMISTICC Cancer Grand Challenge team has found a bacteria that increases bowel cancer risk in some under 50s – and are now able to further investigate whether targeting that bacteria could slash that risk.
Plus, DR Oleg Blyuss, from Queen Mary University of London, is now able to spend more money using sophisticated AI tools to detect early signs of bowel, pancreatic and lung cancer.
And, at The Royal Marsden, where Debs underwent Interventional radiology (IR), the hospital has a brand new, advanced IR X-Ray machine, to help patients and future treatment research.
Additionally, Debs’ legacy, Bowel Cancer UK is ramping up education around symptoms.
The charity will host training for GPs and pharmacists, as well as volunteer-led talks and awareness roadshows UK-wide to make people – especially in areas most at risk – aware how crucial screening is.
The five red-flag symptoms of bowel cancer include:
/
