{"id":2365486,"date":"2026-04-09T12:40:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2365486"},"modified":"2026-04-09T12:40:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:40:56","slug":"shed-be-jumping-for-joy-deborah-james-mum-on-her-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/shed-be-jumping-for-joy-deborah-james-mum-on-her-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018She&#8217;d be jumping for joy\u2019 &#8211; Deborah James\u2019 mum on her legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-65b11a7f-1dcf-4911-b857-6762f5a801ee\">This year marks a decade since Dame Deborah James was diagnosed with stage four Bowel Cancer at 35. In the six years that followed, right up until her untimely death aged 40, the journalist and podcaster campaigned tirelessly for awareness.<\/p>\n<p>She was a vital part of <em>Lorraine<\/em>\u2019s No Butts campaign and a month before her passing she established the Bowelbabe Fund with a goal of reaching \u00a3250,000 to go towards cutting-edge research, early detection and life-saving treatment.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-65b11a7f-1dcf-4911-b857-6762f5a801ee-2\">Remarkably, last week, the charity hit an incredible milestone of \u00a320 million. Now her mum Heather James, who along with the rest of Deborah\u2019s family has continued her campaigning and legacy, has reflected on the achievement.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-continues-below block py-2 text-sm\">Article continues below <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"inline-block w-2.5 h-2.5 ml-2\" fill=\"currentColor\" preserveaspectratio=\"xMidYMid meet\" viewbox=\"0 0 1000 1000\"><path d=\"M1000 100L500 900 0 100h1000z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pb-0 pt-2 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-[#333]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-[#333]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 !text-base uppercase sm:text-sm font-normal&#10;        \"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p id=\"elk-c2479d62-246d-4ad7-840a-aff54ddf8abe\">\u201cAs a family we\u2019re overwhelmed,\u201d she admitted on <em>This Morning<\/em>, where she appeared alongside <em>woman&amp;home<\/em>\u2019s resident GP Dr Amir Khan to discuss the charity\u2019s work, symptoms to look out for and importance of \u201cearly detection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heather continued, \u201cWe are grateful for all of the Bowelbabe supporters and we will keep going. I can hear Deborah now saying, \u2018Come on mum, we can make this \u00a330 million.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sharing how Deborah, whose children Eloise and Hugo were aged 12 and 14 respectively when she died, would feel about the fundraising achievement, Heather added, \u201cShe\u2019d be jumping for joy and absolutely thrilled with what\u2019s happened\u201d &#8211; noting particularly because it has been achieved in just four years.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-abb31d6a-c18f-4314-96e6-af85bac0a05c\">Heather also discussed the support the fund has had from the Royal Family. Last week <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/prince-william\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/prince-william\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/prince-william\/\">Prince William<\/a>, who awarded Deborah with a Damehood at her home a month before her death, praised her \u201camazing legacy\u201d &#8211; something Heather says her daughter would be \u201cabsolutely over the moon\u201d about.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-kajs3WJpbUrZaZtvmuaQHe\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-kajs3WJpbUrZaZtvmuaQHe slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Sign up to our free daily email for the latest royal and entertainment news, interesting opinion, expert advice on styling and beauty trends, and no-nonsense guides to the health and wellness questions you want answered.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout \" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"elk-f8ec923d-e51e-4968-8caf-d8f2c66c1163\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1280px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-1280-80.png.webp 1920w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-1280-80.png.webp 1600w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-1280-80.png.webp 1280w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-1024-80.png.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-768-80.png.webp 768w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-415-80.png.webp 415w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-360-80.png.webp 360w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/tT3N5Kjsifzq6SgwEMupH7-320-80.png.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 710px) 670px, calc(100vw - 30px)\"><br \/>\n<\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"inline-layout \">\n<div class=\"caption-text\">\n<p>Dame Deborah James and Prince William as she received her Damehood<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><p>(Image credit: Graham Prentice Via Alamy)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"elk-16d53832-6159-41e7-a3a8-a2c6c7dd7b82\">While last year <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/king-charles\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/king-charles\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.womanandhome.com\/tag\/king-charles\/\">King Charles<\/a> told Heather and her husband Alistair that he was \u201cso sorry I didn\u2019t meet her\u201d as they attended a reception to celebrate those within Cancer Community at Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n<p>He later echoed Deborah\u2019s departing words as he addressed his own cancer diagnosis, and those who have also received \u201cupsetting news\u201d regarding their health. \u201cFind a life worth enjoying; take risks; love deeply; have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Concluding, Heather said, \u201cI\u2019m so grateful with what she\u2019s left and happy with the time we had together. Of course I\u2019m sad that I\u2019ve lost my daughter, but what are the memories she\u2019s left me with? And for that I\u2019ll always be grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.womanandhome.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year marks a decade since Dame Deborah James was diagnosed with stage four Bowel Cancer at 35. In the six years that followed, right up until her untimely death aged 40, the journalist and podcaster campaigned tirelessly for awareness. She was a vital part of Lorraine\u2019s No Butts campaign and a month before her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2365487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2365486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/\u2018Shed-be-jumping-for-joy-Deborah-James-mum-on.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2365486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2365488,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365486\/revisions\/2365488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2365487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2365486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2365486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2365486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}