Dame Deborah James
Diagnosed with bowel cancer at 35, she spent five years telling people to check their poo, co-hosted the BBC's You, Me and the Big C, and raised over £11 million for Cancer Research UK in the weeks before her death in 2022.
Deborah James (1981-2022) was a deputy headteacher when she was diagnosed with stage IV bowel cancer in December 2016 at 35, having had symptoms dismissed. Writing as Bowelbabe, she used plain language and humour to describe treatment and symptoms, co-hosted the BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C from 2018, and pushed the message that bowel cancer is not an old person's disease. In May 2022, moving to hospice care at home, she launched the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK with a target of £250,000; it passed £11 million within weeks. She was made a Dame by Prince William at her parents' home. She died on 28 June 2022 at 40. Bowel Cancer UK and NHS England reported sustained increases in symptom searches and referrals during and after her campaign.