Deborah James’ husband and children speak out for first time

Deborah James kids reacts as Bowelbabe fund reaches huge milestone

Journalist Deborah James died following a battle with bowel cancer last June, leaving her husband Sebastian Bowen and their two children, Hugo, 15, and Eloise, 13, behind. Her Bowelbabe fund reached a milestone earlier this week after reaching a remarkable £11.3million in donations. Deborah’s husband and children bravely addressed her death and legacy on Thursday’s instalment of BBC Breakfast.

Sebastian told BBC viewers he has been taking care of their children following Deborah’s tragic death.

“I’m much more on the private side, but it’s important to remind people to look after themselves and check their poo as Deborah would say.”

Speaking about how much money has been donated to the Bowelbabe fund, Hugo said: “It’s just unbelievable, to be honest.

“It’s just amazing to think, first of all, the legacy that it is, and secondly the amount which could be achieved with this £11million.

“I think it’s beyond what anyone could realise at this point.”

Deborah’s daughter added: “It’s mind blowing, I remember having a conversation where I thought, ‘Imagine if we hit £250,000 and that would be incredible.’

“Then we hit £1million and everyone was so shocked and now it’s £11million – it’s crazy, it’s insane. Honestly, thank you to everyone.”

Deborah set up the fund during the final few weeks of her life while she was at her parents’ house.

Reflecting on those heartbreaking weeks, her husband Sebastian said: “It was just such a difficult time. It’s hard to articulate just how hard it really was.

“I remember there was the opening of the Chelsea Flower Show and obviously Deborah had a rose named after her and that was going to be part of the Chelsea Flower Show.

“She got fully dressed up and she turned up and was beautiful – I didn’t know what to expect.

“The whole team was there from the Chelsea Flower Show with a bottle of champagne and there were people from the BBC and it just gave her an invigorating spark of energy in an incredibly difficult time.

“Deborah was always like that, she always wanted something to look forward to throughout her whole life and she kept doing it until the very end.”

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When Deborah was diagnosed with bowel cancer she started sharing her story on social media and was incredibly candid about the treatment she was having.

Her daughter said she and Deborah used to “dance every second” when they were together.

Eloise added: “If she had chemo and felt a bit bad that would help us stop thinking about things because we were just dancing together.”

Deborah kept posting on social media right to the end, just days before her death.

Her husband added: “I think she died in probably one of the best ways you could have hoped to die with this terrible disease.

“She died surrounded by her mother, her father, her sister, me, all of us holding her hands and being there for her.

“It was, as much as it can be, there was a peace to it as I think she had done everything she could have hoped to achieve.”

BBC Breakfast airs daily between 6am and 9.15am on BBC One.

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