Charitable, inspirational ‘Bowel Babe’ Deborah James, who publicly battled cancer, dead at 40

Dame Deborah James a renowned Journalist and BBC personality lost her life to cancer at the age of 40.

Deborah, known to fans as “Bowelbabe,” gave in to Stage 4 bowel cancer after a public five-year battle that inspired many and helped raise awareness and millions of dollars for cancer care in the UK.

She passed away Tuesday while surrounded by family, who announced the sad news on her Instagram, in a post that read: “We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Dame Deborah James; the most amazing wife, daughter, sister, mummy”. Deborah passed away peacefully today, surrounded by her family.

“Deborah, who many of you will know as Bowelbabe, was an inspiration and we are incredibly proud of her and her work and commitment to charitable campaigning, fundraising and her endless efforts to raise awareness of cancer that touched so many lives.” Family says.

The mother of two is survived by her husband Sebastien and children, Eloise, 12, and Hugo, 14.

In early May, James penned a heartbreaking farewell column for the Sun, announcing she had run out of treatment options and would be entering hospice at home.

“It’s not about lack of access to the latest fancy drugs — it’s not about feeling hard done by that I couldn’t get a life saving operation — it’s simply that I have an extremely difficult cancer in an extremely difficult area of my body that even today’s cutting-edge technology and techniques cannot cure… My body is so emaciated that I have no choice but to surrender to the inevitable,” she wrote.

Deborah was diagnosed with her rare form of cancer, B-RAF mutation, just days before Christmas 2016 at age 34. Since then she has been a cancer warrior and inspiration to the generation.

Her death announcement included her final words of wisdom, sentiments she had frequently shared over her five-year painful period with bowel cancer.

And a few final things from Deborah “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.’”