Katie Piper has paid tribute to Dame Deborah James in an exclusive interview with woman&home, describing the Bowel Babe’s “amazing legacy".
Speaking ahead of the third anniversary of the cancer campaigner’s death, Katie said she connected to Dame Deborah’s iconic phrase “rebellious hope”, which she coined to encourage others to defy expectations in the face of adversity.
“She was really vocal in saying, ‘I want to live. I’m not going to pretend I'm okay with this’. I really respected that,” says Katie, 41, who has rebuilt her life over the past 15 years following an acid attack at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, which left her with life-altering physical and emotional injuries.
“In my recovery, I always wanted to be more than just a burn victim. I wanted the exceptional life that I'd always wanted,” continues Katie, whose early stages of recovery were documented in the award-winning Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face.
“I thought, ‘Why would I shrink or why would that diminish?' Deborah had such a powerful energy, despite what she was facing’. I didn't know her properly, but I felt like she was a lover of life.”
Journalist and podcast host Deborah - mum to Hugo, 17 and Eloise, 15 - lost her life at the age of 40 on 28 June 2022, five years after being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer.
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The fun-loving cancer campaigner inspired the nation with her incredible fundraising and awareness-building efforts while living with the incurable disease. Often dressed in a poo-outfit to spread her message with humour, she famously launched the No Butts campaign on ITV’s Lorraine in 2021 and to date has raised in excess of £17 million for Cancer Research.
“She made an amazing legacy, particularly with bowel cancer and bowel movement being such a taboo thing, which has led so many people getting so poorly,” says Katie, a nod to the UK’s approximate 16,800 bowel cancer deaths every year.
“She did an amazing campaign with Lorraine, getting all these people to check their poo and the amount of lives she touched - people she didn't meet - that is inspirational. She will never be forgotten.”
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Praising the strength of Deborah’s mum, Heather, who accompanied her daughter to all hospital appointments, including her first chemotherapy treatment in 2017, Katie recalled the support she received from her mum, Diane, during her recovery, which has involved more than 400 operations.
“Deborah’s Mum is what I call a hospital mum, and my mum became a hospital mum,” she says.
“Hospital mums give up all their lives on the outside world. They sleep in plastic chairs by your bed, they eat from the vending machine, they hang out with you and then when you're in surgery, they sit in the recovery room playing Sudoku. That's what I saw in Deborah's mum who I’ve met quite a few times since [Deborah passed away]. She’s an incredible person, just like her daughter'."
Read Katie's full exclusive interview with woman&home in the August issue of the magazine, on shelves from 26th June.