Deborah James is ‘blown away’ and ‘wordless’ about Damehood
DEBORAH James is “completely blown away” and “wordless” after being awarded a damehood last night.
The Sun columnist, who was honored last night, was praised by Good Morning Britain hosts as they chatted to The Sun’s Head of Health, Lizzie Parry, about Deborah’s fantastic performance.
5
5
Dame Debs, 40, has raised almost £4million since Monday when she announced she is receiving end-of-life care.
And she’s determined to hit the £5million milestone by the weekend. Donations can be made at bowelbabe.org.
Pal Lizzie, who edited Deborah’s ‘Things Cancer Made Me Say’ column for Sun Online, told GMB: ‘Debs is absolutely blown away by it. I spoke to her last night and for once she was a bit speechless.
“The outpouring of love this week and the incredible love that was shown to her, we just felt why not give it a try.”
The Sun yesterday launched a campaign to demand that the mother-of-two be granted a damehood.
Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and No 10 pulled out all the stops to recognize their bravery and promptly announced the honor.
Lizzie continued: “It became apparent very quickly that the Palace and No10 were so touched by Deborah’s story and turned around this incredible feat in just a matter of hours.
“Since her diagnosis, her driving ambition has been to stop other people from facing what she had to do.
Most read in The Irish Sun
“Over the last week we’ve seen it with her incredible fundraising and the legacy she will leave behind – I think that’s just the icing on the cake for her.”
Demure Debs previously told The Sun about her shock at becoming a lady, saying: “OMFG this is crazy.”
She added: “I don’t know what to say. I am overwhelmed and incredibly honored.
“I don’t feel like I deserve this. I can’t tell you what this means for my family, it’s so much to process.”
Her children Eloise, 12, and Hugo, 14, added: “We’re just speechless, we’re so, so proud.”
The likes of David Beckham, Talk TV’s Piers Morgan, Anthony Joshua, Lorraine Kelly and Giovanna Fletcher, as well as leading charities all supported calls for Dame Debs.
Steve Bland, co-host of Deborah’s You, Me and the Big C, told The Sun: “Literally nobody has ever earned more.”
Even as she stares death in the face, Deborah’s determination to spread awareness about her rare cancer has not wavered.
The Sun’s health chief added: “Over the past five years she’s had countless messages from people – we’ve had tons of messages too – and it’s just incredible.
5
“She saved thousands of lives. This will allow her to keep doing that,” Lizzie added.
“She has this beautiful phrase about how she feels like she’s riding the wings of science, when she was first diagnosed the drugs that kept her alive for so long weren’t available to colon cancer patients.
“So the fund will be so important to her – she told me last night that she wants to reach £5million by the weekend.
“Her family is incredibly comforted by what is happening at the moment and to see that seeing this outpouring of love is really important.”
Deborah announced that she is no longer receiving active treatment and will spend her final days at her parents’ home in Woking.
Just days before Christmas 2016, she was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.
Deborah, known to fans as BowelBabe, has been sharing every step of her journey with Sun readers and her legion of loyal Instagram followers.
Even as she stares death in the face, her determination to raise awareness of her rare cancer has not wavered.
Her family is incredibly comforted by what is happening right now and to see that outpouring of love is really important.
Lizzie Parry
The Sun columnist raised a whopping £2million in just 16 hours after launching her BowelBabe Fund.
She asked supporters to buy her a drink to “see me out of this world” by donating the cost of a gin and tonic to the fund.
The Sun columnist said it would raise money for more life-saving cancer research “to give more Deborahs more time.”
The money will be donated between Cancer Research UK, Bowel Cancer UK and the Royal Marsden.
She added that she’s always wanted to use her platform wisely.
“I want to raise a bag of money to support the three charities that have supported me.
“My cancer didn’t define me, but it never went away. We knew it would get me in the end, I had to live with it,” she added.
The heroic cancer activist chronicled her journey in her column Things Cancer Made Me Say and podcast You Me and the Big C.
In her latest column for The Sun Online, she said: “My body just can’t go on anymore. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that my health for the last six months has been pretty hell.
“Unfortunately, I find myself in the place I never wanted to be – the next crossroads. My body is so emaciated that I have no choice but to surrender to the inevitable.”
5
5
https://www.thesun.ie/health/8788873/deborah-james-blown-away-lost-for-words-damehood/ Deborah James is ‘blown away’ and ‘wordless’ about Damehood