Dame Deborah James opened up about having 'hard conversations' with her children before her passing.
The fearless campaigner was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer at age 35 in 2016, which she said landed her in the 'middle' of difficult chats with her two kids to 'prepare for my death'.
Deborah later announced the sad news she was receiving end-of-life care in May this year. And on Tuesday 28 June, Deborah's family shared the sad news that she had passed away at age 40.
She leaves behind her husband of 13 years Sebastien and their two children Hugo, 14, and 12-year-old Eloise.
Following her cancer diagnosis, Deborah explained how she had sat down with her children to speak about her death.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast in May, the dame explained: "I have a really loving family who I adore. Honestly, they’re incredible and all I knew I wanted was to come here and be able to relax knowing that everything was OK.
"I’ve had some really hard conversations during the last week. You think, 'Gosh, how can anyone have those conversations?' and then you find yourself in the middle of them. And people are very nice, but you’re talking about your own death and I’ve had five years to prepare for my death."
Deborah also added how she will miss her children dearly.
"It’s really hard," she explained. "The thing that I know, because I trust my husband – he’s just the most wonderful man and so is my family and I know that my kids are going to be more than looked after and surrounded by love.
"You always want to know as a mother – are your kids going to be OK? And my kids are going to be fine. But it doesn’t mean I’m not going to miss every chance I could have had with them."
The brave campaigner also previously discussed how her cancer diagnosis made her re-evaluate her life.
Speaking in a video with Fabulous in 2018, she said: "I have to be honest with you that I was probably focusing very much on my work life and I wasn't actually focussing on my family or my health."
Deborah later added: "There's never a time where you take things for granted because you can't. You have as much fun as you possibly can when you can and when you're feeling well enough to do it because you know that there's tough days around the corner.
"I try as hard as I can to do the things that used to make me happy. And still make me happy – I still like getting my hair done, throwing two parties in the space of three days.
"Just because I have cancer doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing that."
Deborah's family announced the sad news of her passing in an Instagram statement on Tuesday.
It read: "We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Dame Deborah James; the most amazing wife, daughter, sister, mummy. Deborah passed away peacefully today, surrounded by her family."
