A British star presenter of a podcast dedicated to cancer, raised in four days more than 4 million pounds (or more than $ 6.3 million) for research, after revealing that she was in palliative care, triggering a wave of reactions moved in the UK.
Deborah James, 40, known as “Bowel Babe” on Instagram, said goodbye Monday to her 600,000 subscribers to whom she had been telling her daily battle with colorectal cancer for months.
“This is the message I never wanted to write. We have tried everything but my body just does not play the game, ”she wrote, stressing that she did not know how many days she had left to live and calling for continued donations for research.
Thursday she received the honorary title of Dame, awarded after approval by Queen Elizabeth, for her “tireless campaign” against the disease.
She had set herself to raise 250,000 pounds, had collected 16 times that on Friday, topping 4 million pounds.
Her message sparked a wave of emotional reactions on social networks, with many Internet users praising the “strength” and “generosity” of this mother of two children aged 14 and 12.
Since her diagnosis in 2016, Deborah James, a former deputy head teacher, has made a name for herself by co-presenting the BBC podcast “You, Me And The Big C”, a program very popular in the UK. She also wrote a book about her illness.
“Deborah is an inspiration and her honesty, warmth and courage are a source of strength to many,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted.
Ms James told followers she left hospital to die alongside her family at her parents’ home in Woking, south-west London.
“It’s been a year since I drank alcohol, but the doctors told me: + Deborah, you are dying, drink what you want +”, she told in an interview published Thursday by the daily The Times. “So I poured myself a glass of champagne.”