Dame Deborah James' unseen video about new book revealed to emotional mum on Lorraine
A NEVER before seen video of Dame Deborah James has been released.
The 40-year-old Sun writer had been penning a book, How to live when you could be dead, in her final days.
Bowel cancer campaigner Debs had been living at her parents' house in Woking, Surrey in the weeks leading up to her death on June 28.
Her mum Heather appeared on Lorraine today to talk about her daughter's book and was shown a new video about the release.
She added that Deborah would want the final word, as she sat back to watch the clip.
The video starts with Debs in a garden, before clips show her dancing in hospital.
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She is heard saying: "No matter how small, we have to grab those little moments whenever we see them."
The video moves on to show Debs dancing with her daughter Eloise.
Debs continues: "Soak up the good times, any way you can.
"You may find yourself on a pathway that you didn't want to go down, but sometimes it's ok to adjust your expectations and keep walking to those dreams anyway."
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We then see Debs walking around a garden picking flowers, before she issues her final note.
"But if you're having a bad day today, remember tomorrow might just be that good day that you need", she said.
Mum Heather then explained it took her daughter two years to write the book, and added that the last two chapters had been emotional for her to read.
She said: "The last two chapters were done at our house in the last few weeks of her life.
"It wasn't the ending she expected when she started the book two years ago but she didn't know how long she would have.
"But she had two years which were amazing. I've read the last chapters now and they are very emotional."
Bowel cancer symptoms to speak to your GP about:
The five red-flag symptoms of bowel cancer include:
- Bleeding from the back passage, or blood in your poo
- A change in your normal toilet habits - going more frequently for example
- Pain or a lump in your tummy
- Extreme tiredness
- Losing weight
Tumours in the bowel typically bleed, which can cause a shortage of red blood cells, known as anaemia. It can cause tiredness and sometimes breathlessness.
In some cases bowel cancer can block the bowel, this is known as a bowel obstruction.
Other signs of bowel cancer include:
- Gripping pains in the abdomen
- Feeling bloated
- Constipation and being unable to pass wind
- Being sick
- Feeling like you need to strain - like doing a number two - but after you've been to the loo
Debs, known as BowelBabe to her legions of Instagram fans, was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer just days before Christmas in 2016, at the age of 35.
After learning in May that she would receive end-of-life hospice care, she began fundraising in earnest - with the total now topping an astonishing £7.4million.
Despite being told she had an eight per cent chance of living five years, Deborah defied the odds stacked against her.
After celebrating her 40th birthday last October - a birthday she never dreamed she would live to see - the brave campaigner marked the five-year milestone a few months later.
Deborah shared every step of her journey with Sun readers in her column Things Cancer Made Me Say and her army of loyal social media followers.
She went on to present the award-winning BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C with fellow cancer patients Rachael Bland, who passed away in September 2018, Lauren Mahon and Rachael’s husband Steve.
In the five-and-a-half years since her diagnosis Deborah changed the conversation around bowel cancer, raising vital awareness and breaking down taboos.
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She tirelessly banged the F*** Cancer drum - writing a book of the same name - and vowed to do everything she could to help others avoid her fate.
Donate here to keep raising money for Deborah's BowelBabe fund
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