Dame Deborah James dies age 40 from cancer

Deborah James latest tributes: BowelBabe’s final ‘inspirational’ message as hero dies from bowel cancer aged 40

A few days before Christmas in 2016, The Dame received a stage 4 cancer diagnosis.

Dame Deborah urged readers to "choose a life worth enjoying; take risks; love truly; have no regrets; and always

always have defiant hope" in a final statement made public by her family yesterday.

Finally, check your poop; you never know, it can save your life.

The mother-of-two has chronicled her journey since receiving her diagnosis on Instagram and in her blog Things Cancer Made Me Say for Sun readers.

Along with other cancer patients Rachael Bland, Lauren Mahon, and Rachael's husband Steve,

she later hosted the acclaimed BBC podcast You, Me, and the Big C. Bland passed away in September 2018 as a result of her illness.