'Be brave': Deborah James' final message to her children as they tells them 'I believe you'll be OK'
7 August 2022, 07:28 | Updated: 7 August 2022, 08:54
Deborah James final message to her children has been revealed in a new book released after her death.
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The podcaster, who captured Brits' hearts by raising money and awareness about bowel cancer, completed a book that is now being released two months after her passing.
She had been diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and survived against the odds for five years as she set up the BowelBabe fundraiser.
An extract from her book, How To Live When You Could Be Dead, out later in August, lays out her message to her two children with her husband, Sebastien Bowen.
"To Hugo and Eloise, I can’t even speak about you without crying. You are my world," she wrote.
"I've learned that there are many ways to parent — nothing is right or wrong as long as there is love.
"I've also learned that children are more resilient than we think."
She added: "I believe in self-fulfilling prophecies, I believe in rebellious hope and I believe my children will be OK when I die.
"Because if I tell them they won't be, then they might not be.
"I want them to realise that life does not always go according to plan.
"You can make plans, and you can have goals, but you have to be prepared for the fact that sometimes life is more interesting when you go off-piste — so be brave."
Dame Deborah died in June aged 40, after raising more than £7m for Cancer Research UK through her BowelBabe fund.
Sebastien, 42, told The Sun of their heart-rending final moments.
"I kissed her on the head. I told her how much I loved her, that I would look after the kids and the last thing I said to her was that I was so proud of her. Then she slipped away," he said.
"She had an incredibly peaceful death, if there was a way to die well, then she managed it.
"At the very end, it was quite spiritual."
Dame Deborah, who was renowned for her humour and optimism even in the face of her condition, gained more than 900,000 followers on social media.
She co-hosted the You, Me and the Big C podcast about cancer.
She was given a damehood for her work by Prince William, who visited her family home in Woking to confer the honour.
Listen to You, Me and the Big C on Global Player
Besides co-hosting her podcast, she launched the In The Style clothing line that sends all its profits to the Bowelbabe Fund.
She had stopped active treatment and moved to hospice-at-home care by May after doctors said they had done all they could.
Dame Deborah then smashed her original goal of raising £250,000 for Cancer Research, raising millions within four days of setting it up on JustGiving.
How To Live When You Could Be Dead is out on August 18.
£3 from each sale will go to the BowelBabe fund for Cancer Research UK.
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