Dame Deborah James’ mum says she will miss her daughter ‘forever’ in tribute to late star

Dame Deborah James' mum Heather has shared a picture of the late campaigner on holiday last year, and said she will miss her 'forever', nearly two weeks on from the podcaster's funeral after a cancer battle

Dame Deborah James' mum has paid tribute to her brave daughter, saying she will miss her "forever".

The campaigner and podcaster died last month aged 40, after she was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016, prompting a wave of tributes from friends, celebrity supporters and fans who were inspired by Dame Deborah.

Earlier this month the mum-of-two's funeral took place, with her children reading poems during the service, and Lorraine Kelly, Gaby Roslin and McFly singer Tom Fletcher among the mourners.

And now, the star's mum Heather shared a picture of her daughter on holiday, on her Instagram story.

Deborah is wearing a colourful maxi dress with pink bow sleeves in the photo, accessorising the summery outfit with a pink headband and bangles on her wrist.

A docked luxury boat can be seen in the background, as the dame looks slightly away from the lens.

As a caption Heather, who goes by the name bowelgran on Instagram, wrote: "A year ago we were on holiday with you- miss you forever."

After the fundraiser's death was announced by her family, her mum shared some beautiful snaps of her daughter on Instagram, and wrote: "My heart is broken. Love you forever."

After Dame Deborah's diagnosis five years ago, the former deputy headteacher kept her nearly one million Instagram followers up to date with her treatments.

Candid posts about her progress and diagnosis, including videos of her dancing her way through treatment, won praise from the public and media alike.

Alongside Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland, she launched the You, Me And The Big C podcast in 2018, and went on to raise millions for cancer research. Rachael sadly passed away in 2018.

This week, Lauren spoke about her grief and admitted it has been tough without her friends by her side.

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain today, she said: "It's really weird, because it's almost like I can compartmentalise so I can come and talk to you guys about the podcast and my wonderful wonderful friend, and it's work.

"I think it's more off screen when I'm with friends and people ask about the funeral and I'm like I don't want to talk about it. Grief is unique – and it's very unique to grieve someone so public. When you grieve someone, you can usually go off into a hole somewhere."

Rachael Bland, Lauren Mahon and Deborah James presented a podcast about life with cancer, together

Image:

( BBC/Claire Wood)

Lauren has vowed to beat cancer for her late friends as Deborah always described her as the "hope".

She added: "Deborah's always like, you're the hope, you're the hope, so I really want to continue that for her and for Rachael.

"It's really strange because last time I was here, she was watching, so it's very strange not being able to turn to her and say 'oh my gosh this is what happened,' or 'you'll never guess what,' but I still tell her in my mind."

The trio's podcast focused on living with cancer and the experiences each of them faced, with it winning a special award at the British Podcast Awards recently.

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