Dame Deborah James had 'nightmares re-enacting' conversation with children about diagnosis

msn.com:

Deborah James revealed that the thought of telling her children about her diagnosis gave her nightmares. The BBC presenter died at the age of 40 in June 2022 following a highly-publicised battle with bowel cancer.

She had used her final weeks to raise money for the Bowelbabe Fund, which has now raised over £11. 3million, with proceeds going towards various Cancer Research UK projects.

Dame Deborah documented her health ordeal on the BBC podcast series, You, Me & The Big C, which she presented alongside Lauren Mahon, Steve Bland and his late wife Rachael Bland who died in 2018.

The feature-length film, which aired tonight, showed viewers never seen before mobile phone footage, Dame Deborah’s collection of Tik Tok videos, Instagram posts, You Me and the Big C podcasts, family videos and her voice notes. ‘I’m probably an advocate for being very open, with your children, but I have nightmares just re-enacting what I had to say to them’ she said during the documentary. ‘Oh I don’t even want to think about it. ’Viewers hailed the late host an ‘inspiration following the special, with one person writing: ‘What a bright shiny star she was #bowelbabe hubby & I in tears watching her documentary. ’Another added: ‘Just about managed to stop the tears & compose myself after watching @bowelbabe documentary.