George Alagiah's moving message to Deborah James as they battled same illness
BBC newsreader George Alagiah once praised Dame Deborah James for bringing 'hope and joy' to people around her in a resurfaced clip.
The foreign correspondent died 'peacefully' at the age of 67 earlier this week after spending the last decade living with bowel cancer - the same illness that Deborah battled with.
Over one year before George's death, Dame Deborah lost her battle with stage 4 bowel cancer at the age of 40.
In a resurfaced clip, George discussed the many ways of coping with cancer with BBC Radio 4 and how Dame Deborah left a major mark on his life.
"I believe there are as many ways of dealing with cancer as there are people with cancer," he told fellow BBC star Amol Rajan.
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"Deborah had her own way, her very public way, my god, she's brought such joy and hope in equal measure to so many of us."
George once praised Dame Deborah for bringing 'hope and joy' to people's lives (Mike Lawn/REX/Shutterstock)
Dame Deborah died from a lengthy battle with bowel cancer last year (PA)The clip was replayed on The Today Programme on Radio 4 this morning and was recorded after campaigner Deborah's death.
The Sri Lanka-born journalist was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in April 2014, and endured gruelling treatment before returning to present BBC News At Six in November 2015.
In 2017, the cancer returned and he had to undergo more treatment before he made the decision to go back to work again, then he took a temporary break from studio duties in October 2021.
During one of his darkest moments, George reached out to BBC podcast presenter Dame Deborah.
The Sri Lanka-born journalist was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in April 2014 (BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images)He shared the touching gesture of friendship Deborah made, after he got in touch through a mutual friend to chat about their experiences of bowel cancer. It was at a time when George's cancer had scarily spread to his lungs, and Deborah had some positive news about her treatment.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last year, George said: "We had a mutual friend. When my cancer got into my lungs they arranged for us to have a conversation because it had got into hers too. When I called her, she was walking out of the Marsden [London's leading cancer hospital], having had her own regular scan to see if the cancer was spreading. That day, it was okay."
George said he told Deborah to inform her family of the news immediately, but instead of jumping off the phone, she stopped and spoke to him for half an hour about their shared experiences. The much-loved Bowel Babe - who touched the nation with a podcast chronicling her illness - passed away last June after living with the disease for more than five years.
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