Deborah's LEGACY

A new documentary details the last five years of cancer campaigner Dame Deborah James’ life

- TESS LAMACRAFT

BOWELBABE IN HER OWN WORDS

NEW MONDAY, 9PM, BBC2 FACTUAL

Dame Deborah James was just 35 years old when she received her bowel-cancer diagnosis in 2016.

Heartbroken after being told that she ‘wouldn’t see’ her 40th birthday, the devoted mum-of-two and spirited deputy head teacher decided to bravely share her story to raise awareness of the disease, detailing her experiences through her own Bowelbabe blog on social media as well as on TV and radio.

Her tireless efforts raised over £7 million for Cancer Research UK before she sadly passed away in June 2022, at the age of 40.

In the last five years before her death, Dame Deborah documented on camera what the reality of living with bowel cancer was really like for her and those closest to her for a Storyville film, Bowelbabe in Her Own Words, which will air on BBC2 this week.

‘Deborah worked with us on this film right up until the last few weeks of her life and was adamant that it was to be finished even though she wouldn’t be around to see it through,’ says Lucie Kon, commissioning editor for the BBC’s acclaimed Storyville documentary strand.

‘It’s an incredibly powerful and beautiful piece. With enormous warmth and humour, the documentary echoes the powerful, honest and direct way Deborah communicated, as if she were talking to a friend or confidante.’

Here are four of the insights that Dame Deborah shares in the programme…