Terms of use dolor sit amet consectetur, adipisicing elit. Recusandae provident ullam aperiam quo ad non corrupti sit vel quam repellat ipsa quod sed, repellendus adipisci, ducimus ea modi odio assumenda.
Disclaimers
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Sequi, cum esse possimus officiis amet ea voluptatibus libero! Dolorum assumenda esse, deserunt ipsum ad iusto! Praesentium error nobis tenetur at, quis nostrum facere excepturi architecto totam.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Inventore, soluta alias eaque modi ipsum sint iusto fugiat vero velit rerum.
Limitation on Liability
Sequi, cum esse possimus officiis amet ea voluptatibus libero! Dolorum assumenda esse, deserunt ipsum ad iusto! Praesentium error nobis tenetur at, quis nostrum facere excepturi architecto totam.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Inventore, soluta alias eaque modi ipsum sint iusto fugiat vero velit rerum.
Copyright Policy
Dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Sequi, cum esse possimus officiis amet ea voluptatibus libero! Dolorum assumenda esse, deserunt ipsum ad iusto! Praesentium error nobis tenetur at, quis nostrum facere excepturi architecto totam.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Inventore, soluta alias eaque modi ipsum sint iusto fugiat vero velit rerum.
General
Sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Sequi, cum esse possimus officiis amet ea voluptatibus libero! Dolorum assumenda esse, deserunt ipsum ad iusto! Praesentium error nobis tenetur at, quis nostrum facere excepturi architecto totam.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Inventore, soluta alias eaque modi ipsum sint iusto fugiat vero velit rerum.
Join 10k+ people to get notified about new posts, news and tips.
Do not worry we don't spam!
GDPR Compliance
We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.
Christmas without my brave daughter Deborah James will be hard – seeing her last wish come true brought tears to my eyes
Christmas without my brave daughter Deborah James will be hard – seeing her last wish come true brought tears to my eyes
Published on November 13, 2022 at 09:00 PM
IT is nearly five months since Heather James kissed her daughter goodbye for the last time.
And not a day goes by without a reminder of her eldest child, Dame Deborah James.
Deborah James, 40, captured the hearts of the nation in the weeks before she died of Stage 4 bowel cancerMum Heather with Deborah and Winston the dog in FebruaryDame Debs getting into the Christmas spirit with daughter Eloise in 2020
The 40-year-old captured the hearts of the nation in the weeks before she died of Stage 4bowel cancer on June 28.
Thanks to her efforts in raising awareness, in the past year 2.8million people were tested for the disease, data published last month shows â up almost a fifth from 2.32million in 2018/19.
And figures from the NHS last week showed record numbers of cancer cases are being caught early, with 56.7 per cent of cases â 100,461 out of 177,180 in a sample â found at stage one or two in 2021-22.
Heather, 65, says from her home in Woking, Surrey: “Lots of things just catch you unawares.
“I was at the garden centre the other day with my husband Alistair and I spotted the Christmas baubles.
“Deborah loved Christmas so much, she loved buying the children new decorations, picking the tree, decorating it and playing Christmas songs.
“Last year, I remember we came to the same garden centre and she found a shoe decoration for her daughter Eloise.
“She came home with some huge Nutcracker ornaments too. I know I am going to find it really hard to see those this year.”;
So successful was she, that since her death, the NHS has hailed the “Dame Deborah James effect”; in driving more people than ever before to have life-saving cancer tests.
It was just four days before she died that Debs learned one final project had been given the go-ahead.
Mum Heather said her daughter would be blown away by the impact she has had.
And she admitted seeing the toilet rolls on the shelves in Tesco last week, for the first time, moved her to tears.
“It was very emotional,”; she told The Sun.
“I was so proud to walk down the aisle to see one of Deborah’s last dreams come true.
“Seeing the packets on the shelves, I just wanted to hug them. I’ll never buy any other toilet rolls ever again.
“I don’t ever want to rip the packaging open, it is just so lovely to see what she has achieved there in purple and white, with the BowelBabe Fund logo on the front.”;
And with more than a million packs of their Luxury Soft Toilet Paper sold each week, Jason Tarry, Tesco UK CEO agrees with Heather that it will have a huge impact.
He told us: “We know that by making the symptoms available we can truly deliver this important and potentially life-saving information directly into the homes of our customers. We were privileged to work with Deborah and to continue working with the Bowelbabe Fund.”;
Heather added: “What a legacy. It’s truly one of the greatest things she managed to do.
“Everyone buys toilet rolls and even if just one person notices a symptom and gets it checked out, it will be worth it.
“I have no doubt this will help save lives and that is something that will for ever make me proud.”;
But, for Heather and her family, the momentous occasion is bittersweet.
While Dame Debs knew it was going to happen, she didn’t live to see the packs roll off the production line.
Heather says: “Four days before she died she got the news that it was finally all fully agreed and it was actually going to happen.
“I am so pleased she lived long enough to know, it was such a relief for her but it breaks my heart that she never saw it.
“She knew it was a done deal, and she was so happy.
“It really meant so much to her and was one of the last things she managed to do.
“I remember her sitting in the garden and she just looked at me and said, ‘It’s done, we are going to see this on all toilet rolls’.
“I’ll never forget the smile on her face.”;
And it’s not just Deborah’s infectious smile that Heather holds on to.