BBC presenter with cancer slams easyJet for ruining family holiday
BBC presenter with stage 4 bowel cancer slams easyJet for ruining precious family holiday – after ‘over-booking’ means she’s forced to sit apart from her son and leave her husband BEHIND
- Deborah James, aka Bowel Babe, was diagnosed at the age of 35 in 2016
- Now writes about life with cancer, campaigning for awareness of symptoms
- Revealed frustration at airport after her half-term holiday flight was overbooked
- Deborah forced to board without her husband – and sit 12 rows from her son
- Tour operator Scott Dunn Travel and easyJet have both apologised to James
A campaigner for cancer awareness has vented her fury after a precious holiday abroad with her family was ruined by low-cost airline easyJet.
Deborah James, aka the Bowel Babe, who regularly posts about her life with stage 4 bowel cancer, took to social media this morning to reveal that she had been forced to leave her husband in London and sit 12 rows apart from her son after finding her flight had been over-sold.
The deputy head, 37, from London. who co-presents the Radio 5 Live podcast You, Me and the Big C, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2016 and documents her ongoing fight with the disease on Instagram.
She told her 11,700 followers on Twitter that she was furious with luxury holiday company Scott Dunn Travel and easyJet for allowing the situation to happen.
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Deborah James, aka Bowel Babe, has stage 4 bowel cancer. She told her 11,700 Twitter followers this morning of her fury after an over-booking error meant she had to travel on holiday without her husband, and sit 12 rows apart from her son
The 37-year-old, who was diagnosed in 2016, revealed that she’d paid ‘a premium’ to travel with luxury operator Scott Dunn Travel only to be taken off the flight. Deborah raged that having cancer makes it much harder to travel on holiday with insurance policies raised
The James family pictured on a previous holiday; the family are hoping to re-unite and continue with their holiday. easyJet and Scott Dunn Travel have apologised to the Instagram star
James wrote from the airport this morning: ‘You pay a premium to book with @scottdunntravel and they stick you on an over-booked flight.
‘Currently on standby wondering if I’m actually going on holiday. If you had any idea the amount of cancer admin that’s required to get away, you’d understand my anger!’
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Later, she updated that she’d been able to board a flight but that her husband had been left behind, writing: ‘So flight update – I got on the flight, my Son is sitting 12 rows behind me on his own, and my husband is left in London with no idea how or when he’s coming out! This is not on @easyJet @ScottDunnTravel.’
Fellow passengers sympathised with how hard it can be getting a holiday when you have cancer. One, @terrybarry7, wrote on Twitter, ‘It is a pain regarding travel insurance if you have had cancer even if you are cured’
Upmarket travel company @ScottDunnTravel replied swiftly, saying their team would in touch with James and her family when she landed: ‘We’re devastated that this has happened & are doing all we can to ensure you still have a great holiday.’
Meanwhile easyJet responded: ‘I’m so sorry to hear this Deborah, and believe me, I do know. What’s your situation at the moment? Robbie’.
Fellow passengers sympathised with how hard it can be getting a holiday when you have cancer.
@JeySharman wrote: ‘The paperwork is enough stress on its own! Holidays are meant for relaxation, not to cause more hassle and stress.’
@terrybarry7 added: ‘It is a pain regarding travel ins if you have had cancer even if you are cured. When getting a quote the customer service agent asks loaded questions regarding health and always seem to charge you a premium extra regardless.’
Deborah’s condition is currently stable, something she describes as ‘the permission to breathe again, the new window of hope that starts’ (pictured here with husband Sebastien, and children Hugo and Eloise)
Scott Dunn Travel told MailOnline: ‘The team at Scott Dunn is extremely sorry that Deborah James’s family holiday has got off to such a distressing start.
Scott Dunn booked flights with EasyJet on behalf of Deborah and her family in good faith, and it was EasyJet’s decision to overbook a flight and therefore displace passengers.
EasyJet does not give preferential treatment to tour operator bookings and whilst this is an incredibly unfortunate incident, it is something that we had no control over.
We have done everything that we can to ensure that the rest of their holiday goes smoothly. We are extremely upset with EasyJet about this situation and have been in contact with the airline.’
James has seen her profile saw since she began posting frank photos of her cancer journey on Instagram following her diagnosis in 2016.
In January, inspired by the #10yearslater trend in which people share photos of themselves from a decade age, she posted images showing her looking well and glamorous in the months, days and weeks before her diagnosis.
One photo was captioned: ‘When I look back at old pictures, I wish I had known the symptoms. Pushed to get a referral.’
She added on another shot: ‘My point being in all the pictures I look healthy but I was pooing blood, was tired and had had a change in bowel habits.’
Deborah James from London who has stage four bowel cancer, shared a series of images on Instagram this week to highlight how cancer symptoms are often dismissed if a person looks well, as the mother-of-two continued to do in the months, weeks and days before her own 2016 diagnosis
Mother-of-two Deborah, from London, included this photo – taken just a week before she received the devastating news of her illness – of her enjoying a glass of wine
The series, which includes a photo of Deborah and her husband the day before she got her results, ends with a black and white image of the campaigner just seconds before seeing doctors to be told her news
Deborah co-presents the Radio 5 Live podcast You, Me and the Big C
There’s a photo of her two months before at a party with her brother and sister, another holding a glass of wine just a week before her devastating results and snuggling up to her husband just 24 hours before.
James writes: ‘I would have had the Stage 4 Bowel Cancer – including the 6.5cm tumour – inside me in all of these.’
James was a co-host on the You, Me And The Big C podcast with Lauren Mahon, who’s in remission from breast cancer, and Rachael Bland who died age 40 at the beginning of September from a rare triple negative breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2016.
Vowing to carry on with the work she had started with her friend, James told the Lorraine show in October: ‘I miss her so much. Seeing those photos of her, it breaks my heart actually.
She told Lorraine: ‘What we did together is we put cancer on prime time. I am so proud to have done that.
‘Her legacy and what we started, we’re going to carry on with it.’
Deborah with the late Rachel Bland (left) and their You, Me And The Big C podcast co-host Lauren Mahon (centre)
Candid: Deborah, right, endured a tough Christmas after her body reacted badly to a new drug being used to contain her illness
What is bowel cancer?
Bowel cancer, also known as colon cancer or colorectal cancer, is a form of cancer in the large bowels, which are comprised of the rectum and the colon.
It is usually preceded by the growth of precancerous polyps in the bowels.
Bowel cancer risks include factors such as advanced age, inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis and certain hereditary genetic disorders such as familial adenomatous polyposis. Diet and lifestyle are also thought to play a large role in the development of bowel cancer, with risks including the excessive consumption of red and processed meats, smoking, obesity, alcohol usage and limited physical activity.
It is typically diagnosed with a colon biopsy from a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy. Regular screenings to prevent bowel cancer are recommended for individuals aged 50 years and older.
Worldwide, it is the third most common form of cancer and is generally more common in the developed world. Bowel cancer is typically found more in men than women.
Symptoms of bowel cancer generally include:
Blood in the stool
Rectal bleeding
Severe abdominal pain
Fatigue
Weight loss without any explanation
A dramatic change in bowel habits lasting three weeks or more
Loss of appetite
Vomiting and nausea
Constipation
According to Cancer Research UK, all women (100%) and 95 out of 100 men with stage 1 bowel cancer are likely to survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
This drops to 5 out of 100 men and 10 out 100 women when the disease reaches stage 4.
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