A remarkable woman who got things done
Sturgeon and Kelly in tribute to brave Deborah
NICOLA Sturgeon led tributes in Scotland to Dame Deborah James after her death from cancer earlier this week.
Bowel cancer campaigner and blogger Deborah passed away on Tuesday following a five-year fight against the disease.
The mum of two had been diagnosed in 2016 and was renowned for her candid social media posts about her progress and condition.
Alongside Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland, she launched the You, Me & The Big C podcast in 2018.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Sturgeon said: “Can I take the opportunity to personally pay tribute to Deborah James? Her loss at such a young age is clearly tragic but the work she did to raise awareness of bowel cancer and of course the immense amount of money she raised will make such a difference, and my thoughts are with her family today.”
Lorraine Kelly, who became a close friend of Deborah and teamed up with her for the Bowelbabe campaign on her ITV show, hailed her as “remarkable”.
Lorraine told GMB’s Susannah Reid yesterday : “She was just a woman who got things done.”
Last month, Deborah shared the news that she was moving to palliative care.
Her partnership with fashion brand In the Style – featuring T-shirts with Deborah’s “Rebellious Hope” mantra printed on them, which sold out every time they were restocked – raised more than £1million.
Yesterday, STV presenter Laura Boyd, who has lived with chronic myeloid leukaemia for more than a decade, joined those paying tribute to Deborah.
She said: “You gave us hope, happiness and, of course, Rebellious Hope.”