Dame Deborah James sadly passed away on Tuesday night surrounded by her family.
The cancer campaigner was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in 2016 when she was just 35, but spent her final days living life to the fullest. After announcing she was receiving end-of-life care at her parents' house in May, Deborah worked hard to fundraise as much as possible through her Bowel Babe account.
The 40-year-old captured the heart of the nation over the last five years and in her final months fundraised millions of pounds for Bowel Cancer UK. As a result of her impressive work, Deborah was honoured with a Damehood and received a personal visit from Prince William at her family home, writes the Mirror.
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Alongside her amazing work, Deborah spent her final days surrounded by her loving family doing everything from going to the opera with her husband, to having a girly sleepover with her sister. Her final Instagram posts even showed her incredible achievements in raising money for charities.
A trip to the pub
A couple of days before her death, Deborah was photographed enjoying a pint with her mum Heather. The campaigner, who is known as BowelBabe, enjoyed a drink and some lunch with her mum in an Instagram story snap shared by Heather, who calls herself BowelGran on the social media platform.
In the photo, she can be seen sitting in a wheelchair and sipping on a refreshing pint with her 64-year-old mum by her side. Meanwhile, Deborah's mother was sitting next to her daughter and sipped on a glass of wine as they spent some quality time together.
Damehood
Deborah expressed her joy and pride after being honoured with a damehood in May. She spent her time raising awareness of bowel cancer all while raising an incredible amount of money for cancer research charities.
Not only did she accomplish many things, but she also touched the hearts of millions of people. The mum-of-two had expressed how she was "humbled and blown away" by the damehood.
Usually, damehoods and knighthoods are announced as part of the New Year Honours or the Queen's Birthday Honours though, in exceptional circumstances, they can be announced at other points in the year.
This was the case with Captain Sir Tom Moore's knighthood, and now Deborah's damehood. In a statement, Downing Street said the Queen was "pleased to approve the honour of damehood" be conferred upon Deborah.
Sleepovers
Back in May, Deborah shared a couple of sweet photos of her and her family enjoying a 'girly sleepover'. At that point, she was struggling to leave the house and her sister Sarah Wieczorek suggested a sleepover as a way to make memories.
Woking company, Teepee Vibe Tribe, quickly set up their living room with gorgeous decorations for the family.
"Making memories can be hard why you are dying! Oh the pressure!!. I’m now only getting some very grabbed hours between the sleeping and side effects, but this girly sleepover managed to put such a smile to my face having spent most of yesterday in tears!" she wrote at the time. I’m getting less and less able to leave the house, or bed really now, so was feeling pretty down about it. Or do anything for that matter!
"But my sister suggested a party sleepover! She managed to call a very local Woking company ( @teepeevibetribe ), that morning, who said, yes we’ll come and help and make the whole thing so easy and enjoyable all within 3 hours notice!"
Trips to the Opera and Royal Ascot
In June, the Dame immersed herself in all her favourite things including attending the opera and enjoying the races. Several weeks ago, accompanied by her husband Sebastien Bowen, she travelled to one of her "favourite places" Glyndebourne Opera House, East Sussex to enjoy a performance of La Boheme.
"Another day, brings another excuse to spend half of it exhausting myself getting dressed up to go to one of my favourite places! @glyndebourne to watch #laboheme - But totally worth it," she declared.
A couple of days later, Deborah shared snaps from her time at Royal Ascot with her brother and her father. "Memories made, but most importantly I got 3 wins in a row and am still bouncing off the ceiling from them still!!!" she said of her eventful day.
Dying surrounded by family
When she died, her family took to her Instagram page to announce that she was surrounded by family.
The post read: "Dame Deborah James. We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Dame Deborah James; the most amazing wife, daughter, sister, mummy. Deborah passed away peacefully today, surrounded by her family.
"Deborah, who many of you will know as Bowelbabe, was an inspiration and we are incredibly proud of her and her work and commitment to charitable campaigning, fundraising and her endless efforts to raise awareness of cancer that touched so many lives."
The mum leaves behind her husband Sebastien and children Eloise, 12, and Hugo, 14.
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