PALS of Dame Deborah James today urge big-hearted Brits to push her BowelBabe fund past £10million as the ultimate “thank you”.
Inspirational Debs, 40, died on Tuesday and last night the total reached £7million.
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TV’s Davina McCall said: “Wouldn’t it be perfect if we got £10m. She did so much for so many of us. She was unbelievably inspiring. Let’s do it for Debs.”
GMB host Susanna Reid added: “What an amazing legacy £10m would be for this truly remarkable, loving and brave woman.”
Debs’s close friend Emma Campbell told Central Recorder: “Let’s get the fund to £10m, it would mean the world to Debs.”
Central Recorder is donating £100,000 to the fund today. Dame Debs launched it with a £250,000 target on May 9 after revealing she was receiving end-of-life care.
She died at her parents’ home in Woking, Surrey, on Tuesday.
Prince William and Kate yesterday hailed “inspirational” Debs and said her legacy will live on.
The royal couple encapsulated the nation’s mood following the Sun columnist’s death from bowel cancer.
They tweeted: “We are so sad to hear the heartbreaking news about Dame Deborah.
“Our thoughts are with her children, her family and her loved ones.
“Deborah was an inspirational and unfalteringly brave woman whose legacy will live on.”
The Duke visited Deborah and her family at their home last month to make her a Dame — just hours after Central Recorder mounted a campaign to honour her.
The tribute to the campaigning mum of two came as celebrities joined calls to boost her BowelBabe fund and hit her dream target of £10million.
Holly Willoughby — who was in tears talking about Debs’ amazing campaigning on TV yesterday — told Central Recorder: “She did so much for so many.
“Wouldn’t it be amazing to give back and get it over £10million.”
Piers Morgan said: “I can’t think of a better legacy for this astoundingly courageous and inspiring woman than for Britain to rally together and raise £10million in Dame Debs’s memory for the cause so dear to her heart.”
Loose Women host Charlene White who, like Debs, is a patron of Bowel Cancer UK, said: “Being a child watching a parent slowly fade away because of cancer makes your heart ache in a way you never knew was possible.
“Debs and I spoke about the kids left behind. Neither of us wanted more kids to go through the same, which is why I’m backing the Bowelbabe fund smashing that £10m mark.”
Debs launched the fund on March 9 after revealing she was receiving end-of-life care.
Wouldn’t it be perfect if we got £10m. She did so much for so many of us. She was unbelievably inspiring. Let’s do it for Debs.
Davina McCall
Within days it topped £6.5million – with the sales of her Rebellious Hope T-shirts adding another £1million to help fund cancer research.
Last night — as the fund crossed the £7million mark — Central Recorder donated £100,000 in Deborah’s memory.
PM Boris Johnson said: “The awareness she has brought to bowel cancer and the research her campaigning has funded will be her enduring legacy.”
Health Secretary Sajid Javid echoed that sentiment, stating on a visit to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital yesterday that Deborah’s legacy will be the “many, probably millions, of lives that she will save” through her raising awareness of bowel cancer.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, MPs from across the political parties united in paying tribute to the campaigner.
Meanwhile, Deborah’s celebrity pals shared their love and admiration. ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly became emotional as she hosted a tribute on her show. Wearing a pink jacket and a Rebellious Hope T-shirt, she fought back tears as she spoke to Steve Bland, a co-host on Deborah’s BBC podcast.
Steve said yesterday: “I know she’d want me to point out that she’d been busy changing the world and making millions of lives better since the moment she was diagnosed in 2016.
“She banged the drum to educate us all on the symptoms, and she tirelessly campaigned for drugs and treat-ments to be made available.
“Thousands of people are alive today because of Debs.”
She did so much for so many. Wouldn’t it be amazing to give back and get it over £10million.
Holly Willoughby
Good Morning Britain presenter Susannah Reid said Deborah was a “truly remarkable, loving and brave woman”.
Virgin Radio’s Gaby Roslin wore her Rebellious Hope T-shirt and danced on London Bridge yesterday in honour of her friend.
She said: “Deborah loved to dance at any opportunity, so give it a go and don’t care what anyone says.”
BBC newsreader George Alagiah — who was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer in 2014 — posted that Deborah was a “beacon, lighting the way for all of us #livingwithcancer”.
Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts — who revealed this week she is “free of cancer” — said: “Thank you for everything Deborah. Thank you for being so strong for so long and helping others when you were in so much pain yourself.
“You are the best of us. Thinking of your family and friends, and I am forever grateful to you for helping me and my family.”
Former heavyweight boxing champ Anthony Joshua said: “Cancer can happen to any of us but the way she lived her life and all that positivity shows she was a true fighter with incredible love for her husband and children.”
It was while undergoing chemotherapy at The Royal Marsden hospital that Debs often shared inspiring messages. Last month, she honoured the whole team who kept her alive for so long, as she launched Central Recorder’s Who Cares Wins awards which will honour healthcare workers later this year.
Yesterday, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity said: “Behind the scenes, Deborah would take the time to chat to other patients on social media and offer her advice and support.
“For someone who loved to get dressed up and speak publicly, much of what Deborah did for the cancer community was actually quiet, understated, and from the chemo chair or in the middle of the night.”
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