Me and the Big C

Remembering the late cancer campaigner Deborah James

- TESS LAMACRAFT, NATASHA HOLT, IAN MACEWAN, JO LEWIS, HANNAH DAVIES

NEW FACTUAL

Bowelbabe In Her Own Words

Monday, 9pm, BBC2

In December 2016, 35-year-old mother-of-two and deputy head teacher Deborah James was told she had stage 4 bowel cancer.

Her GP had initially diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome. However, months later, with her symptoms ongoing, her worst fears were confirmed when a colonoscopy revealed she had incurable bowel cancer, and it was unlikely she would reach her 40th birthday.

Following the shattering diagnosis, James was determined to raise awareness of the disease, and the Bowelbabe blog she published online had soon amassed an army of followers.