Deborah James’ mum says she has been ‘numb’ with grief

Dame Deborah James’s mother has said she wished her daughter was alive to see that her bowel cancer fund has raised a whopping £11.3 million.

Speaking on Lorraine on Wednesday morning, James, 65, said: “She’d set a target of £250,000.

“I think within a day it hit a million and she was overwhelmed, as we all were. I just wish she was here to see it was £11.3 million.

“But we’re not going to stop there. We’re gonna make it even bigger.”

She then called her daughter’s work “amazing” after watching Dame Deborah’s recorded message, which was broadcast for the first time in a never-before-seen video.

James called her daughter’s work ‘amazing”’ (Lorraine)

“Deborah was always ‘go go go’ and full of energy,” added the grandmother-of-four, who also revealed she had been “numb” with grief.

“I will keep campaigning and if we can do that for Deborah’s legacy that’s great but grieving-wise I think it’s more hard now reality’s set in.”

The previously unseen video of Dame Deborah showed her shortly before her death thanking her supporters for their donations.

She said: “One thing I wanted to do before I passed away was to set up the Bowelbabe fund,’ Dame Deborah said in the video.

“I wanted to set it up to ensure that more people can benefit from some of the things that I benefited from.

“We will ensure that more people have access to personalised medicine, clinical trials, cutting edge technology to help more and more people live longer with cancer.”

She added: “Every penny counts. I cannot thank you enough for your support of the Bowelbabe fund. You are awesome.”

Dame Deborah with her husband Sebastien Bowen at last May’s Chelsea Flower Show a month before she died (PA Media)

She also announced that she was receiving end-of-life care and would be staying at her parents’ Surrey home.

Dame Deborah, who was made a dame for her fundraising efforts, died aged 40 last June following a five-year battle with bowel cancer.

She famously launched the Bowelbabe cancer research fund for research into personalised medicine for cancer patients.

She left behind husband Sebastien Bowen and their children Hugo, 15 and Eloise, 13.

A new documentary about Dame Deborah’s life, Bowelbabe: In Her Own Words, will air on BBC 2 in the coming weeks.