The BBC's Deborah James says she is "absolutely mind blown" after raising over $3.3 million for her charity Bowelbabe Fund.
The popular presenter of the BBC podcast You, Me And The Big C penned an emotional goodbye post on Monday when she announced on Instagram that despite trying everything she could to combat the disease her bowel cancer, her body "doesn't want to play ball anymore".
James, 40, then disclosed that she has moved to hospice-at-home care to treat her terminal bowel cancer so she can focus
on spending time with her family, and has set up a charity called Bowelbabe Fund with Cancer Research.
As reported by People, after announcing her charity, the BBC host was inundated with donations.
As of this writing, £2,696,104 ($3.3 million USD) has been raised thanks to donations from over 153,427 donations.
During an interview with BBC on Tuesday, James said she was "absolutely mind blown" by the response: "I just cannot thank people enough for their generosity. It just means so much to me. It makes me feel utterly loved. But it makes me feel like we're all kind of in it at the end together and we all want to make a difference and say, 'You know what? Screw you cancer.' You know, we can do better."
She continued: "We can do better for people and we just need to show it who's boss."
Speaking about her Bowelbabe Fund organization, she told the presenters: "I always knew there was one thing I wanted to do before I died. But you don't quite realize how little time we have to suddenly organize things. Had I actually thought 'Oh yes, I'm going to die' I would have probably started organizing six months ago."
"Over the last five years I've campaigned, I've spoken about awareness, I've shared my story for a reason - the laughs, the giggles, sharing that you can live with cancer, unveiling what cancer can look like... but ultimately what I really want to happen is I don't want any other Deborahs to have to go through this. We know that when we catch cancer early, we can cure it," the host added.
"Before I die the one thing I knew I wanted to do was set up a fund that can continue working on some of the things that gave me life such as innovative drug studies," she said of Bowelbabe.
Mother to Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12, Deborah was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in 2016.
She's been using her Instagram page (@bowelbabe) as a means to update her over 500,000 followers with candid posts about her diagnosis and progress, family life, and treatments.
In a final column on The Sun, posted this morning, James sadly expressed: "I do not want to die – I can’t get my head around the idea that I will not see my kids' weddings or see them grow up – that I will no longer be a part of life that I love so much."
She wrote that she has "now entered into the end of life hospice care at home" where the focus is now on her having "the best quality death".
Lastly, she thanked every supporter in the last five years that engaged with her on social media, read her columns, listened to the You, Me and the Big C podcast, and sent her a message.
Our thoughts go out to James' family, friends, and fans at this difficult time.
