As her family prepares for a heartbreaking Father’s Day, Dame Deborah James has reflected on her father Alistair’s loving support.
The much-loved campaigner, 40, is looking forward to spending the day with her husband Seb, children Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12, as well as her father and mother Heather, who are both battling intestinal cancer.
The Sun adds that she is getting palliative care at her parents’ house in Woking, Surrey, and that she plans to celebrate the day with ‘a scotch or two’ with her father, whom she has dubbed her ‘unsung hero.’
‘I’ve never been one to tell Dad how much I love him, so take it from me, just say it,’ she said. You never know when your last chance will come.
‘It’s too painful to contemplate the possibility of not seeing my son as a father.’
Seb, Dame Deborah’s husband, is a ‘amazing’ father to their two children, she said.
And she was overjoyed when her brother Ben proposed to Ashley, his 11-year lover.
‘This year is about my dad and Seb for me, but it’s also about the guys in my life who will hopefully one day be fathers as well, my kid and brother,’ she added.
Dame Deborah said yesterday that when she was released from hospital last month, she was given only days to live – and insisted that her day at Royal Ascot was a ‘fantastic milestone’ that proved she ‘ain’t dead yet.’
After declaring last month that she is no longer getting active cancer treatment, the mother-of-two has been making the most of the time she has left.
She has gone on a variety of adventures during that time, including seeing opera at Glyndebourne, visiting the Chelsea Flower Show after hours, and having lunch at the £700-a-night Beaverbrook estate in Leatherhead, Surrey.
In her final TV appearance on E4’s Embarrassing Bodies, which aired yesterday evening, she also stated she had a ‘gut hunch that something wasn’t right’ before her bowel cancer diagnosis.
‘I taped this with the Embarrassing Bodies team a long time ago, but it’s out tonight,’ Deborah said, sharing a clip from the show on her Instagram stories today.
‘I started going to the poo – we have to say that – eight times a day,’ she said in the video. And I used to be a girl who just ate once a day.
With family members including her brother Ben, the former deputy headteacher turned bowel cancer fighter attended Royal Ascot on Wednesday, just a 30-mile drive from her parents’ house.
She expressed her gratitude for the memorable day out on Instagram, calling it a “fantastic milestone to declare “I ain’t dead yet.”
‘Yesterday was particularly wonderful as with a lot of effort and aid I actually made it to Ascot Race Course once again,’ she wrote in a moving message on the social media platform.
‘I have to pinch myself every day that I’ve been well enough to undertake something like this.’ Another favorite of mine, and a great way to communicate “I ain’t dead yet!”
‘Obviously, like most others, I haven’t been for a long due to Covid, but it’s great to be back, and thank you to Ascot Race Course for making the whole experience for me and my brother so easy and enjoyable.
‘Memories were made, but most importantly, I won three straight games and am still bouncing off the roof from them!!!’
In 2016, Dame Deborah received a ‘late’ diagnosis of terminal colon cancer. As a vegetarian runner, she has consistently stated that she was the last person physicians anticipated to contract the disease.
Deborah became known as the ‘Bowel Babe’ after discussing her experiences with the condition on social media and began writing a column for the Sun.
Deborah co-hosted the award-winning podcast You, Me, and the Big C on Radio 5 Live with Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland in 2018.
Bland died of breast cancer on September 5 of that year, and her husband Steve Bland now co-hosts the show with her.
Dame Deborah highlighted how hard her condition is after she discontinued active treatment for her disease around a month ago and moved to her parents’ house for hospice care.
‘I find myself in limbo land, not knowing what the future holds or for how long,’ she said.
It’s a really stressful and unpredictable spot to be in because I was given days, if not a week, to live when I was released from the hospital over a month ago. And I was in the mood for it.
‘However, as we all know, life doesn’t always go as planned, so I’ll take whatever extra time the powers that be have decided to give me.’
So, despite the unsettling tears, I smile and say to myself, “Wow, life is a weird thing, isn’t it?” ‘Make the most of it!’
The campaigner was photographed with jazz musician Natalie Rushdie in addition to her brother Benjamin and his fiance Ashley Hall.
She also uploaded a photo of some of the sundowner beverages she’s been drinking with her family at her parents’ house earlier in the day.
She claimed that she was sipping Sex on the Beach and that she intends to ‘work her way through old cocktails day by day’ until she dies.
The advocate, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, also shared a post from In The Style imploring people to buy more of her Rebellious Hope partnership to help her raise another £1 million for her Bowelbabe Fund, which has raised over £6.7 million to date.
‘Today’s favorite “sundowner” treat! Dame Deborah captioned a photo of her sun-soaked cocktail, “Sex on the Beach!”
Dame Deborah’s legions of supporters were devastated when she announced she was no longer getting aggressive cancer treatment.
Last month, she was named a Dame in an emotional ceremony at her parents’ house, with Prince William himself paying a personal visit to bestow the honor on her.
She reported spending an afternoon with Prince William drinking ‘tea and champagne’ as he presented her with a Damehood for her relentless lobbying and fundraising efforts, which had resulted in £5 million being given to cancer research in just four days.
The’surreal’ meeting was disclosed by Dame Deborah on her Instagram page, where she posted many photos of the Duke of Cambridge with her and her family.
She told her over 630,000 followers that William had been “nice” and “made everyone feel at ease,” and that he was “welcome back any time.”
‘Prince William truly came to our family house today!’ wrote Dame Deborah. I am ecstatic that he came to join us for afternoon tea and champagne, where he not only spent time speaking with my entire family but also bestowed my Damehood.’
She described the experience of having a king ‘drop in’ as bizarre, and quipped that the cleaning activities leading up to his arrival were ‘off the scale.’
‘But it didn’t matter since William was so nice and made us all feel at ease,’ she continued.
‘As President of the Royal Marsden, he is clearly committed to improving oncology results.’
‘It was such a beautiful day for my entire family, and we created lifelong memories.’ He’s welcome to come back whenever he wants!’
The BBC podcaster had previously expressed her ‘total lack of words’ after earning more than £5 million for charity after revealing that she was getting end-of-life care.
It happened just hours after the Queen named her a dame for her dedication to spreading bowel cancer awareness and funding following her shocking diagnosis in 2016.
Deborah’s Damehood was approved by the monarch, who said she was ‘pleased,’ while the Prime Minister stated ‘if ever an honor was fully deserved, this is it.’