‘Deborah would be saying: Just knock some heads together’
THE father of Dame Deborah James says his daughter would tell him to “knock some heads together” to ensure a long-term cancer strategy is put into action.
Dame Deborah died in June 2022 at the age of 40, five years after her bowel cancer diagnosis.
While increasing awareness of the disease, she launched the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK, raising £12million.
Her family have now written an open letter urging all UK political parties to commit to a plan “to give more people affected by cancer more time with the people they love”.
Her father,Alistair, said: “This strategy of early diagnosis saves lives and Deborah would be saying, ‘Dad, it makes common sense. Just knock some heads together and see if we get everybody following it and working for it’.”
In the letter, the podcaster’s family stated they are joining Cancer Research UK in its Longer, Better Lives manifesto during
April – Bowel
Cancer Awareness Month. It wants the Government to publish a long-term cancer strategy within a year of the general election, to “drive earlier diagnosis and reduce inequalities in access to treatment and care”. Dame Deborah’s loved ones argue for increases in the NHS cancer workforce and investment in “vital diagnosis equipment to ensure everyone who needs it can access the right test, in the right place, at the right time”. They add there has been “little improvement” in the proportion of bowel cancers being diagnosed at an early stage and targets are not being met.They say that’s due to the health service “not having the resources to see patients in a timely manner”. Mr James added on BBC Radio 4’s Today: “In the early stages, we knew little about bowel cancer. We knew little about what was causing it. Deborah was 35, she was fit, she was a vegetarian, I would be the person you’d expect to get bowel cancer, not her. It was so sad that her diagnosis was really towards the end of stage three. In stage one and two, you’ve got nine out of 10 chances to live. Sadly, stage three and four, that’s down to one out of 10 to live for five years.”