Dame Deborah James jokingly gave her husband Sebastien Bowen a listing of ladies he wasn’t allowed to “hook up with” after her loss of life.
Earlier than she died final June, after six years of dwelling with bowel most cancers, James instructed Bowen she would “do my damned hardest to return and hang-out him” if he started relationship the ladies on the listing as soon as she was gone.
A brand new BBC documentary concerning the most cancers campaigner’s life, titled Deborah James: Bowelbabe in Her Personal Phrases, options her ideas and opinions by way of voice notes, TikTok clips and clips from her You, Me and The Massive C podcast.
James, who died on the age of 40, described her widower as a “very eligible bachelor” to whom she had already “instructed all my loss of life confessions to”.
“I had a listing of women that I used to be like, proper, they’re going to pounce on my husband,” she stated within the documentary, which will likely be accessible on BBC iPlayer from Monday 17 April.
“And so I listed off a few names that I stated I’d do my damned hardest to return and hang-out him if he attached with these folks, which I assumed was completely hilarious.”
On a extra severe observe, James added: “I need to have a bench the place I stay, as a result of I don’t like the concept of ever being lonely in loss of life. I like the concept of being someplace the place my youngsters can sit and ponder and browse a poem.”
James and Bowen, 44, share two youngsters, Hugo, 15, and Eloise, 13. They have been married from July 2008 till her loss of life in June 2022.
Within the documentary, she displays on having to talk candidly to her youngsters about her prognosis.
“I’m most likely an advocate of being very open together with your youngsters, however I’ve nightmares simply re-enacting what I needed to say to them,” she stated.
James described her bowel most cancers as “the glam most cancers”, including: “There’s nothing pink about my most cancers, it’s simply brown. I used to be identified after six months of a change of bowel habits, mainly the place I used to be pooing blood.
“I’m going to be very frank, as a result of I feel one of many largest issues is that persons are not frank sufficient concerning the signs that led to their prognosis, after which in consequence it holds up their prognosis.”
Earlier than she died, James arrange her Bowelbabe most cancers analysis fund, which exceeded its preliminary goal of £250,000 inside 12 hours of launching it. Since then, it has raised £11.3m.
Her household has continued her activism in elevating consciousness about bowel most cancers and inspiring folks to test their poo.
Earlier this yr, Bowen urged folks to get entangled within the NHS’s new free bowel most cancers screening programme and stated: “I do know Deborah could be telling anybody that will pay attention: ‘Test your poo’.”
