express.co.uk
10.02.2022 / 17:47
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'Blood everywhere' BBC's Deborah James in tears amid near-fatal hospital dash
Deborah James, 40, bravely returned to her podcast You, Me and the Big C today and explained she suffered a haemorrhage last month.The podcast host was told she would have died if her family had waited for an ambulance, while her doctor stayed on the phone with her begging her to “stay awake” as she fought for her life on her way to the hospital.Deborah was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in December 2016 and over five years later, she has continued to be a passionate advocate and patron of Bowel Cancer UK.The mother-of-two presents BBC Radio 5 Live's podcast You, Me and the Big C and is also a newspaper columnist.On January 6, her medical condition took a turn for the worse and she was rushed to hospital, where she spent weeks not knowing if she would ever get to come out again.She was eventually released from critical care on January 23, after which she decided to record some voice notes of her experience in order to “navigate her trauma”.Deborah has since shared that her family were told she “may not survive the night” and got choked up as she remembered the events leading up to her hospitalisation.“I started hemorrhaging,” she explained. “I vomited a litre and a half of blood and within 30 seconds I knew I needed to get to the hospital, quick.”As soon as her symptoms started, Deborah rang her husband, who began to run home.However, the columnist knew that she didn’t have much time, so she made the decision to call 999 herself, at which point her daughter walked in.“She came up and found me basically with blood everywhere,” Deborah remembered.