AND FINALLY Deborah’s bravery was inspirational

WE HAVE many reasons to be grateful for the brave, vivacious honesty of the late Dame Deborah James, but I’ll isolate just one — her extraordinary radiance forced countless people to think about death.

Facing her own end of life — helped at home by palliative care specialists — Dame Deborah proved that it is indeed possible to have what our forebears called ‘a good death’. Her beautiful face and encouraging words will stay with me for ever. She wanted to inspire awareness and action — and it’s always needed.

Writing about bereavement since 1976, I know how vital it is for all of us to think about death to live better. Yet people are terrified, aren’t they?

That’s presumably why so many cross the road to avoid talking to someone they know is grieving.

It is so sad. But it’s not entirely surprising to hear the Sue Ryder charity (which provides essential palliative and bereavement support) is facing the worst recruitment challenge in 65 years.

Now celebrity supporters have joined forces with Sue Ryder nurses, patients currently receiving care and loved ones of past patients to launch the ‘We are Sue Ryder’ campaign.

It aims to raise awareness of the critical recruitment need for palliative care nurses across the UK. You can watch the moving campaign video here: sueryder.org/news/we-are-sueryder-campaign.

Watching Sue Ryder staff, ambassadors, patients, and families talk to the camera sharing heartfelt lines in verse (written by my daughter, Daily Mail contributor Kitty Dimbleby) brought tears to my eyes yet me made feel uplifted.

If you can’t consider training, you might know someone who could make this their vocation — with care and skill to transform life and death.

Some of the most inspiring people I’ve met are those who work with the old and sick. They are brilliant and noble ‘influencers’ — like Dame Deborah.

■ Bel answers readers’ questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. Names are changed to protect identities. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence.