THE teenage daughter of cancer campaigner Dame Deborah James says “life is just not that serious”; as she takes on her fun-loving mum’s legacy.
Eloise, 15, is stepping into the spotlight in the ongoing fight against
And she is determined to make campaigning fun,
Eloise joins forces with telly host to support her No Butts initiative on ITV today.
Sun columnist died aged 40 in 2022, five years after her stage four bowel cancer diagnosis.
Eloise declared: “Mum would be chuffed I was doing this because spreading awareness is what it’s all about.
“Mum didn’t want to make it something scary, she wanted to make it something fun.
“She made it like dances, making jokes out of it.
“It gets to people more than being serious, ’cause no one is going to listen to someone being serious the whole time.
“Life is just not that serious, at the end of the day.”;
Lorraine’s No Butts initiative was launched by Dame Deborah in 2021.
GCSE student Eloise has fronted a film to back the effort alongside her grandmother Heather.
Cuddling up to dog Winnie in their garden at home in Woking, Surrey, they look at white rose bushes named in Dame Deborah’s honour and remember the mother of two’s campaigns.
Eloise recalls cheeky merchandise including branded loo roll and knickers.
And she tells of visit in May 2022, when he conferred Deborah’s damehood.
Eloise, sister to Hugo, said: “I remember making meringues when Prince William came and [Heather] was going round the house like, ‘We have to tidy, we have to tidy’.
“The house was spotless but she was like, ‘My house is a tip, I’m so sorry Prince William’.
“She spent 24 hours tidying, I don’t know why she was apologising.
“The loo roll is genius, it’s something that’s a cheeky reminder.
“Mum was dressed like a poo half the time! I remember her drawing poo shapes and trying to tell us about the types of poos.”;
April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month.
Nearly 43,000 people are diagnosed each year in the UK and more than 16,500 died from the disease last year, making it the second biggest cancer killer.
Bowel cancer is treatable if diagnosed early.
Symptoms include blood in your poo, unexplainable extreme tiredness and lumps or pain in the tummy.
Eloise added: “What mum wanted was for everyone to know the truth, that it can happen to anybody.
“Even if you’re the most healthy person in the room you’ve still have chance of getting it.”;
- NO BUTTS, with Eloise and Heather, is on ITV1’s Lorraine today from 9am.
