Dame Deborah James – a Resilient inspiration to us all

There can’t be anyone who hasn’t been moved by the passion, determination, courage, and resilience of Dame Deborah James. In my opinion, she has demonstrated true Resilience, in stark contrast to the blog I posted a couple of weeks ago…..

Mother-of-two Deborah was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in December 2016 and was told early on that it was likely she wouldn’t survive beyond five years - a milestone that passed in autumn 2021. 

Whilst many people may have withdrawn into themselves and cowered away from the public spotlight, Dame Deborah demonstrated what is meant when we say “Attitude” is at the heart of Resilience – living her life to the full and campaigning passionately for the causes she believed in. She chose the attitude she wanted to live her life by and went for it wholeheartedly .

Our Attitude (to life) is at the heart of Resilience. Photo Jeremy Bezanger Unsplash

A look at the last few weeks of her life reveals how truly remarkable this inspirational lady was.

Even after being told she had days to live, she was determined not to go quietly!

Highlights of the coming days included welcoming Prince William to her house to bestow the Damehood on her, attending Royal Ascot and spending quality time with her family.

But, perhaps most remarkably, and something which will remain her legacy, she devoted her last days to being a vocal ambassador to highlighting the dangers of bowel cancer - launching an incredible fund to raise money for clinical trials, research into personalised medicine for cancer patients and further campaigns to raise awareness of bowel cancer.

The initial target for her BowelBabe Fund was set at £250,000 - and less than a week after its launch, over £3.5 million has been raised and donations continue to flood in thanks to Deborah’s message and commitment to the mission of raising awareness of bowel cancer and support for those diagnosed with it.

There’s no doubt as to the struggles she faced in the end – but always managed a smile and a ray of hope.

After a visit to see La Boheme, she spoke of how it had been truly worth it, despite the effort involved.

In a heartfelt post on Instagram, she said: “Another day, brings another excuse to spend half of it exhausting myself getting dressed up to go to one of my favourite places!!!!

“But be under no illusion! I’m knackered! I’ve worked out it takes me longer to get ready and organised to go than the time I actually last anywhere. Getting dressed is tiring, getting meds organised is tiring, the extra moving, the travel, the wondering what mood your stomach is in - it’s all real!”

Something we’ll all remember for a long time to come, was Dame Deborah's last post on Instagram - dedicated to her fight to raise awareness on bowel cancer. She announced Tesco had agreed to partner up with her and to highlight the symptoms of bowel cancer on the packaging for their Luxury Soft loo roll. She also announced that together with WEPA UK, Tesco pledged to donating £300,000 to Cancer Research. 

The post was seen by more than 1.5million people on the social media platform. 

In a last effort to raise awareness on the symptoms of the condition, she encouraged people to check their poo and to contact their GPs if they saw anything out of the ordinary.

"Find a life worth enjoying; take risks; love deeply; have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope. And finally, check your poo - it could just save your life."

There are those who claim to be resilient for facing up to their struggles in whatever way, and then there are those who truly are, and whose resilience and courage are second to none. Deborah James is clearly a shining light who falls into the second category.

RIP Dame Deborah – your legacy will continue.

If you’d like to explore the subject of resilience more deeply, please contact me via Email: russell@theresiliencecoach.co.uk.

You only have one life, are you living it well….? Photo Michael Cho Unsplash