His daily fight against the disease allowed him to collect nearly 5 million euros to fight it. A Briton, star presenter of a podcast dedicated to cancer, collected Friday, May 13 at the end of four days of campaign more than 4 million pounds (4.7 million euros) for research, after revealing to be in care palliatives, triggering a wave of emotional reactions in the United Kingdom.
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Deborah James, 40, known as “Bowell Babe” on Instagram, had said goodbye on Monday May 9 to her 600,000 subscribers, to whom she had been telling for months her daily fight against colorectal cancer. “That’s the message I never wanted to write. We’ve tried everything, but my body just doesn’t play the game.”she wrote, stressing that she did not know how many days she had left to live and calling for continued donations for research.
A wave of generosity
His message sparked a wave of emotional reactions on social networks, with many Internet users welcoming the ” strength “ and the ” generosity “ of this mother of two children aged 14 and 12. She had set herself the goal of raising 250,000 pounds (about €293,000), and had raised 16 times more on Friday, May 13. The day before, Deborah James had received the honorary title of “Dame”, awarded after approval by Queen Elizabeth, for her “tireless campaign” against disease.
Since her diagnosis in 2016, Deborah James, a former deputy head teacher, has made a name for herself by co-presenting the BBC podcast You, Me And The Big C (You, Me and Cancer), very popular show in the UK. She also wrote a book about her illness. “Deborah is an inspiration and her honesty, warmth and courage are a source of strength for many people”notably greeted the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on Twitter.
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Deborah James has told her followers that she left hospital to die alongside her family at her parents’ home in Woking, south-west London. “It’s been a year since I drank alcohol, but the doctors said to me, ‘Deborah, you’re dying, drink whatever you want'”she said in an interview published Thursday by the daily The Times. “So I poured myself a glass of champagne. »