Dame Deborah James’s mother goes back to work as a pre-school gymnastics coach a week after her daughter’s funeral and thanks the public for their ‘love and support’
- Heather James, 64, posted a photo on Instagram after her first day back at work
- She laid her daughter to rest last week after the podcaster died aged 40
- Heather had been her daughter’s rock throughout five-year bowel cancer fight
Dame Deborah James’s mother has had her first day back at work after laying her daughter to rest.
Heather James, 64, who works as a pre-school gymnastics coach, posted a photo on Instagram in which she smiled alongside some of her colleagues with a PE-style parachute in the background.
She wrote: ‘First day back at work with my second family @primeacrobatics! Thank you for all the love and support over the last few months.’
Commenting on the photo, people praised Heather, from Woking, Surrey, for her bravery since her daughter passed away.
Heather James (pictured right) smiled with her colleagues on her first day back at work as a gymnastics coach at Prime Acrobatics in Woking, Surrey
Heather, 64, laid her daughter to rest at St Mary’s Church in Barnes, south west London, last week. (Pictured centre with grandchildren Eloise and Hugo and son-in-law Sebastian to her left)
Heather was by her daughter’s side throughout her bowel cancer journey and filled in for Dame Deborah when she was too ill to go to events
Lauren Mahon, who co-hosted the You, Me and The Big C podcast with Dame Deborah, posted six emojis with love-heart eyes.
Another person wrote: ‘Your courage and bravery is amazing… Think we know where dame Deborah got hers.’
One person said: ‘So nice to see this post and you smiling, Heather.’
Mother-of-three and grandmother-of-four Heather was seen walking behind her daughter’s funeral procession at St Mary’s Church in Barnes, south west London last Wednesday.
She walked just behind her daughter’s widower, Sebastien, and children Hugo, 14 and Eloise, 12.
Dame Deborah James passed away at the age of 40 on 28 June after a five-year battle with bowel cancer.
The deputy headteacher-turned-campaigner spent her final years raising awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer.
Lauren Mahon, who co-hosted You, Me and The Big C with Dame Deborah James, commented on Heather’s back-to-work photo
Heather, a mother-of-three and grandmother-of-four, has praised her daughter’s campaigning
Heather often took part in her daughter’s viral TikTok challenges from hospital – which usually involved dancing
She also shared the reality of living with the illness on her Instagram page, @bowelbabe, and often featured her mother Heather in her stories.
Heather, who mimicked her daughter’s nickname to call herself Bowel Gran, nursed Deborah throughout her cancer journey.
She was by her daughter’s side during countless hospital stays, joined in with Deborah’s viral ‘chemo dances’, in which the pair would shake a leg to help the presenter get through another chemotherapy cycle, and cared for her grandchildren ‘at the drop of a hat’.
When Deborah became too ill to attend important campaigning events, Heather stepped in for her daughter.
One such occasion was to launch the ‘No Butts’ campaign alongside Lorraine Kelly, which aimed to raise awareness of bowel cancer on the Scottish host’s daytime programme from 19 April to 5 May.
Dame Deborah James made the most of her final days while living at her parent’s house in Woking, soaking up the sun while her mother nursed her
Dame Deborah James’s family posted a photo of her on holiday wearing a white dress on Instagram to announce she had passed away
At the time, Deborah wrote on Instagram: ‘I’m so proud of my mum today for stepping in to help launch the #NoButts campaign with @lorraine.
‘This campaign is something I’m so passionate about. So of course I’m gutted not to be well enough to be there in person (yet!).’
After announcing in May she was having palliative care, mother-of-two Dame Deborah said she wanted to die at her parents’ house in Woking.
During her last weeks, the campaigner welcomed Prince William to Heather’s house for afternoon tea when he personally presented her with her damehood.
Dame Deborah was also pictured enjoying a pint by a lake as she took her mother Heather out for lunch in the sunshine.
Even in Dame Deborah’s final days her campaigning knew no bounds and she worked with toilet roll supplier Andrex, as well as other British supermarkets, to have the symptoms of bowel cancer printed on loo roll packets.
After her huge win, the Bowel Gran posted an Instagram story praising her daughter’s tireless work.
She wrote: ‘Well done to Deborah and a big thank you to @tescofood for your support and £300,000 donation to the @bowelbabefund’.
After Dame Deborah passed away, the family shared a beautiful photo of the mother-of-two on Instagram on the @bowelbabe and @bowelgran accounts.
It read: ‘We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Dame Deborah James; the most amazing wife, daughter, sister, mummy. Deborah passed away peacefully today, surrounded by her family.’
The statement continued to pay tribute to Dame Deborah’s amazing campaigning work and thanked her fans for following her journey.
It ended: ‘And a few final things from Deborah…”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”.’
After the statement was published, Heather posted it to her Instagram story and said: ‘My heart is broken. Love you forever.’
BOWEL CANCER: THE SYMPTOMS YOU SHOULDN’T IGNORE
Bowel, or colorectal, cancer affects the large bowel, which is made up of the colon and rectum.
Such tumours usually develop from pre-cancerous growths, called polyps.
Symptoms include:
- Bleeding from the bottom
- Blood in stools
- A change in bowel habits lasting at least three weeks
- Unexplained weight loss
- Extreme, unexplained tiredness
- Abdominal pain
Most cases have no clear cause, however, people are more at risk if they:
- Are over 50
- Have a family history of the condition
- Have a personal history of polyps in their bowel
- Suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease
- Lead an unhealthy lifestyle
Treatment usually involves surgery, and chemo- and radiotherapy.
More than nine out of 10 people with stage one bowel cancer survive five years or more after their diagnosis.
This drops significantly if it is diagnosed in later stages.
According to Bowel Cancer UK figures, more than 41,200 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK.
It affects around 40 per 100,000 adults per year in the US, according to the National Cancer Institute.
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