Deborah James thanks well-wishers who have raised £5.9m for ‘most humbling five days of my life’ as she admits to ‘getting weaker and more tired’ but plans to die with ‘massive smile, no regrets and a big glass of champagne!’
Dame Deborah James has thanked well-wishers who have raised over £5.9million for the ‘most humbling five days of her life’ and said she plans to die with a ‘massive smile, no regrets and a big glass of champagne’.
The cancer-stricken mother-of-two, 40, enjoyed an afternoon of ‘tea and champagne’ with Prince William on Friday as he presented her with a Damehood for her tireless campaigning and fundraising efforts.
She took to Instagram today to post pictures of the Duke with herself and her family, saying the visit gave them ‘so much to smile about in the sadness’.
The BBC podcaster told her 686,000 followers: ‘I believe I may have had the most surreal, mind blowing, humbling 5 days of my life.
‘I cannot thank you for your generosity at launching the @bowelbabefund which now stands at £5.9 million, and to the @dukeandduchessofcambridge for going above and beyond to make a very special memory happen yesterday.
‘Can’t quite believe I’m actually a Dame! My family are being amazing and as emotional as it all is, we are finding so much to smile about in the sadness.’
She admitted to ‘getting weaker and more tired’, but continued: ‘I always said I wanted to slide in sideways when my time is up, with a massive smile, no regrets and a big glass of champagne! Still my intention!!!’
Dame Deborah has raised over £5.9 million for Cancer Research UK through her Bowelbabe fund on Just Giving. Having set her original target at £250,000, she has now raised more than 22 times her goal.Dame Deborah reached the £5million milestone on Friday after donations from more than 240,000 supporters, including William and his wife Kate.
Her Just Giving page said it is ‘raising money to fund clinical trials and research into personalised medicine for cancer patients and supporting campaigns to raise awareness of bowel cancer’.
She said she was ‘completely lost for words’ after reaching the phenomenal amount. TV presenter Lorraine Kelly responded to the news, saying: ‘This is just wonderful – tears and laughter – love you @bowelbabe.’
It came just hours after she was made a dame by the Queen for her commitment to raising awareness and funds for bowel cancer following her diagnosis in 2016.
The monarch led praise for Deborah, saying she was ‘pleased’ to approve the Damehood, while the Prime Minister said ‘if ever an honour was richly deserved, this is it’.
In a post on Instagram on Friday night, Dame Deborah wrote: ‘Thanks to an incredibly generous donation earlier today, and to every single person who’s donated to the @bowelbabefund, we’ve just reached the unbelievable total of £5m.
