Let’s celebrate Dame Deborah for saving thousands of lives

EVERY so often, someone captures the nation’s heartstrings and becomes a household name. During the pandemic, Captain Tom Moore seized a moment when we were frightened and powerless – and gave us hope and a sense of awe with his magnificent NHS fundraising efforts.

- Stephen Pollard

More recently, broadcaster and former teacher, Deborah James has had a similar impact.

A few weeks ago, the only people who knew her story were listeners to her BBC podcast – You, Me And The Big C.

Today, Dame Deborah – such was her impact that Prince William visited her at home to bestow the honour on her – stands as an iconic figure.

Her death will be mourned across Britain. But if we are to mourn her in the spirit she showed when we got to know her, we will not so much bemoan her loss as celebrate her life – and the huge contribution she made to others’ lives.

Because there is no doubt at all that Dame Deborah managed something few of us can even attempt. She saved many lives – and did so through the sheer force of her personality.

By treating her cancer in what seemed almost a matter-of-fact way, she didn’t so much take the fear out of cancer as humanise it, and thus encouraged others to get checked if they showed the symptoms of her own bowel cancer.

IT IS no exaggeration to say that she may have saved tens of thousands of lives by getting people diagnosed early – the key to treating almost any cancer. Charities say that she has had a unique and transformative impact.