BBC podcaster Deborah James says her ‘body just can’t continue’ as she halts active cancer treatment
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Deborah James, the BBC podcast host, revealed on Monday that she has halted active treatment for stage four bowel cancer and is now receiving hospice care.
The mother of two, who was first diagnosed in 2015, told her 406,000 followers on Instagram that her "body just can't continue", adding that "nobody knows how long I’ve got left".
Doctors had previously given the 40-year-old two years to live after her diagnosis.
The former deputy headteacher wrote: "My active care has stopped and I am now moved to hospice at home care, with my incredible family all around me and the focus is on making sure I’m not in pain and spending time with them.
"Nobody knows how long I’ve got left but I’m not able to walk, I’m sleeping most of the days, and most things I took for granted are pipe dreams. I know we have left no stone unturned."
She also announced that she is setting up the Bowelbabe Fund and urged her fans to help donate to finance further life-saving cancer treatment.
"All I ask if you ever read a column, followed my Instagram, listened to the podcast or saw me dressed as a poo for no reason, is please buy me a drink to see me out this world, by donating the cost to @bowelbabefund which will enable us to raise funds for further lifesaving research into cancer. To give more Deborahs more time," she wrote.
"Right now for me it’s all about taking it a day at a time, step by step, and being grateful for another sunrise.
"My whole family are around me and we will dance through this together, sunbathing and laughing (I’ll cry!!) at every possible moment!
"You are all incredible, thank you for playing your part in my journey. No regrets. Enjoy life x."
Ms James has campaigned tirelessly for bowel cancer awareness and the rights of cancer patients.
Since 2018 she has hosted the award-winning BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C alongside fellow cancer patients Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland, discussing their treatment.
Ms Bland passed away later that year from breast cancer, with her widower Steve Bland occasionally appearing on the podcast.
In 2020, Ms James ran the London Marathon to raise funds for the Royal Marsden Hospital where she was being treated.
The following year she hit out at Lord Sumption after he suggested her life was "less valuable" because of her diagnosis.
