Dame Deborah James has joked that she can’t die over the Jubilee weekend because the limelight would be stolen by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The 40-year-old You Me And The Big C and campaigner revealed last month that she is receiving end-of-life care at her family home in Surrey.
She was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 and began documenting her journey with treatments on social media, which led to a huge following.
‘I’m determined not to die over the Jubilee weekend, I don’t want Meghan stealing my thunder,’ Dame Deborah quipped.
She added to The Sun: ‘I haven’t worked so hard to raise cancer awareness and money to help find a cure, only to miss out on another Sun front page when I go.’
Dame Deborah was honoured with a damehood from the Duke of Cambridge last month.
The move came after she raised more than £6.6million for Cancer Research UK, Bowel Cancer UK and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity through her Bowelbabe fund on Just Giving.
The podcaster set herself an initial target of £250,000 and has received donations from a huge number of supporters.
Earlier this week, Dame Deborah opened up on the emotional struggles she is facing during her battle with cancer as she spends the time she has left with her family.
She admitted she feels anger about the cruel disease ending her life early, adding to the publication: ‘Dying is really hard. I’ve been consumed by anger this week, in all honesty, I’ve been a real b***h.
‘I keep shouting at people and pushing them away. I’m angry at what’s happening to me. I don’t want to die.’
Dame Deborah has been living at the home of her parents, Alistair and Heather, so as not to die in the house she shares with her husband Seb and their two children, Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12.
She has also chosen to only see family and not friends in her last days as she doesn’t want them to remember her ‘like this’.
She added: ‘There’s no right or wrong way to die. I’m still doing this my way. I’m frustrated with my situation because I don’t want to die. I don’t think I will ever really accept it.
‘I was given days to a week to live when I left the hospital. But I’m still here. I don’t really believe that it’s happening.
‘It all feels like a horrible joke. Watching the demise of my body is really, really sad.’
Donate to Dame Deborah James’ Bowelbabe fund
You, Me & The Big C podcast host Dame Deborah James has admirably raised money towards cancer charities after announcing that her own bowel cancer was now terminal.
She is now receiving end-of-life hospice care at home due to her cancer treatment being stopped last month.
With the support of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Dame Deborah and her family established the Bowelbabe Fund, with all money raised to be allocated to funding clinical trials and research into personalised medicine that could result in new treatments for cancer patients, including projects in collaboration with partners such as The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden. Donations will also go towards continued support to raise awareness of cancer, such as Bowel Cancer UK’s Never Too Young campaign.
At the start of June, the fund had so far raised £6.6million to go towards clinical trials and research into personalised medicine for cancer patients and supporting campaigns to raise awareness of bowel cancer.
You can donate via the Just Giving link here.
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Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee 2022
Dust off your Union Jack bunting, Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee is well and truly upon us.
Taking place from Thursday, June 2, to Sunday, June 5, the celebrations mark Her Majesty’s record-breaking 70th year on the throne.
Across the UK, there will be street parties, concerts, and other special events attended by the Queen and senior members of the Royal Family.
Visit Metro.co.uk’s Platinum Jubilee page for all the latest updates.
