DAME Deborah James has said she will be ‘forever grateful’ to medical teams that gave her additional years with her children.
The 40-year-old was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer just days before Christmas in 2016.
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When the Sun writer was first given the news, she was told she might not live to see her first festive season.
But she has continuously defied the odds, raising millions of pounds for charity and even launching a fashion collection.
Earlier this month Debs was moved to at home hospice care and is currently residing at her parents’ home in Surrey.
As she looks back on all she has achieved, she said it’s the five years of additional memories that she is clinging onto – which she knows would not have been possible without her amazing team.
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She said: “My story isn’t one of sadness, it’s a celebration of getting to live for five years with incurable cancer, I’ve been so lucky.
“I owe my five years to the team at The Royal Marsden who told me they would throw the kitchen sink at my cancer, and never gave up.
“In my final days, I am so grateful to have the peace of knowing that we tried everything, they left no stone unturned.
“They gave me precious more time with my husband, my children and my family, and for that we will all be forever grateful.
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“There’s a saying: ‘Behind every great man, there’s a great woman.
“Well behind every stage 4 cancer patient, there’s a heroic team of medics and support staff just doing their job.”
Debs’ team never gave up on her.
The podcaster hasn’t had an easy ride, facing set back after setback.
In March this year, she was rushed to hospital after a septic infection left her with a 40 degree fever.
In July 2021 Debs said the drugs that had been keeping her alive had stopped working and an inoperable tumour wrapped around her bile duct meant her liver started to fail.
She is now urging readers to ‘big up’ their own healthcare heroes by nominating them for Trending In The News’s Who Cares Wins Awards.
