Like mother, like son: Wills scrubs up for Bowelbabe’s NHS medics
‘She was joking that she can drink at last’
HE personally delivered cancer campaigner Deborah James’s damehood earlier this month.
And yesterday Prince William paid tribute to the medics who cared for the mother of two, telling them: ‘Thank you for what you have done for her.’
The Duke of Cambridge revealed that Dame Deborah, 40, had spoken ‘very highly about her care’ during his visit to her parents’ home in Woking, Surrey, where she is receiving end-of-life care.
Diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, the former teacher spent the last five years giving a candid account of her treatment on the podcast You, Me and the Big C. Her online ‘Bowelbabe Fund’ has raised more than £6.5million for Cancer Research UK.
The duke spent yesterday at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, west London, where Dame Deborah had been having treatment. The royal – who is president of the hospital’s NHS Trust – followed in his mother’s footsteps by donning a mask and scrubs during the visit.
Among those he spoke to was pancreatic cancer patient Lorraine Kimber, 59, who got to know Dame Deborah well. ‘We met in a chemotherapy clinic and we built our friendship through that,’ Mrs Kimber said. ‘What she has done is fantastic for the cancer community, and what a legacy we have. She is still thinking of others even now. I have been honoured to call her a friend.’
Consultant radiologist Nicos Fotiadis, who treated Dame Deborah, thanked the prince for sending a ‘powerful’ message by visiting her at home, adding: ‘You lead from the front and we are very happy about that.’ William rebuffed the praise, saying: ‘No, no... it’s important to acknowledge and recognise people like Deborah who do such an awful lot to help other people in very difficult circumstances. She’s done a brilliant job.’
Addressing chief nurse Mairead Griffin, deputy chief nurse Jo Waller and ward sister Rowena Trono – all of whom treated Dame Deborah – he admitted it was ‘very difficult’ talking to her children Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12, about their mother’s terminal illness but added: ‘They seem to have been talking about the situation a lot. That’s so important – that the family talk and communicate about it and the children are brought into what is going on.’
He added: ‘She spoke very eloquently and very knowledgably about all the cancer treatments, not just her own. She said bowel cancer wasn’t a sexy as breast cancer – her words, but it’s true. There are so many cancers and some get a bit more publicity than others.’
He told the team of medics: ‘Thank you to you all for what you have done for her. She spoke very highly about her care. It was a touching moment.’ William also confirmed that Dame Deborah has not lost her sense of humour. ‘She was joking that at last she could now drink,’ he said, revealing she was ‘triple parked’ with multiple tipples on the go.
Yesterday also saw William observe up close the hospital’s revolutionary new robotic microwave treatment. This destroys a tumour without removing it, meaning there are no scars or stitches.
The future king watched the surgery, known as robot-guided microwave ablation, which sees a tiny probe inserted through an incision as small as a millimetre wide.
Described as a ‘game-changer’ by Dr Fotiadis, the process makes for a quicker procedure. It is also more accurate, and better able to access parts of the body which were previously harder to target.