Speaking to 'The Life of Bryony' podcast, the siblings of Dame Deborah James, Ben James, and Sarah Wieczorek, revealed how they privately dealt with the grief of losing their sister to bowel cancer.
Dame James, also known by her social media handle 'Bowelbabe', was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer at the age of 35.
She decided to document her journey with cancer online to raise awareness of the disease and the daily plight of people living with cancer.
She went on to host the successful 'You, Me and The Big C' podcast and used her platform to raise a massive £17 million for cancer research via the Bowelbabe fund.
Three years after her death in 2022, her siblings laid bare their personal grief at losing their much-loved sister.
Sarah, her sister, told Mail columnist Bryony Gordon: 'It's horrible her kids have to grow up without a mum.
'I hope the fund can support groundbreaking research that will give people like her more time - people shouldn't be losing their mums, or daughters, sisters and friends.
'I don't let myself think about the fact she's not here. I don't want to go there... I miss her energy and the ability she had just to make things normal. Not just normal, but fun.
Dame James, also known by her social media handle 'Bowelbabe', was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer at the age of 35
James used her platform to raise a massive £17 million for cancer research via her Bowelbabe fund
'The bit that has made it easier is that she made such a statement and we're lucky enough to still be talking about her.
'We get to do a lot of charitable events through her: her memory is very much still alive. It feels like she's still living, even though she's not.'
Sarah and Ben are running the London Marathon this year, to raise more money for cancer research in Dame James's memory.
On his grief, Ben said: 'Obviously, it's a crap situation that nobody wants to be in. But honestly, it's hard to look negatively across a lot of it.
'Those last six to eight weeks were such a huge distraction: Debs herself said that it was one the best times we've had as a family.
'I live close to where Debs lived and often run past the house and think, I can't believe she's not there - that hits hard.
'Going through cancer is a process and you grieve before it happens - to an extent. She was pretty ill at the end, and you see it is a release.
'We keep moving forward - I think everyone deals with it in their own way.'
Sarah and Ben are running the London Marathon this year, to raise more money for cancer research in Dame James's memory
Ben James: 'Those last six to eight weeks were such a huge distraction: Debs herself said that it was one the best times we've had as a family'
Ben and Sarah sat down with Bryony during bowel cancer awareness month and stressed the importance of early diagnosis and seeing your doctor if you sense something is off.
With cancers like bowel cancer, catching the disease early is crucial in boosting your chances of survival.
Ben said: 'If anything's wrong, that's the biggest thing. If there's a change - go and get it checked.
'It all depends on what's your normal: if there's a change in habits, blood in your poo in some way; if you're getting overly tired, losing weight unexpectedly, or have a pain in your stomach - get it checked.'
Dame Deborah's family, including her siblings, rallied around the late cancer campaigner who passed away in 2022, as she publicly raised money for cancer charities in the years leading up to her death.
In spring of 2022 she revealed she had entered palliative care and was going to move into her parents' home in Woking, Surrey, to spend her final days with her family around her.
During that time, she won the hearts of the nation after releasing a charity collection with InTheStyle, including sell-out t-shirts emblazoned with her mantra to live with 'rebellious hope'.
The mother-of-two also received a visit from Prince William, who popped over for a spot of afternoon tea where he personally presented Deborah with her damehood.
During the course of the afternoon, the royal jokingly asked Deborah's brother Ben 'why he hadn't [proposed] yet' to his long term girlfriend Ashley Hall.
The royal's quip came after Deborah had expressed her wishes for her brother (who also bears a striking resemblance to the Prince of Wales) to pop the question in the final months of her life.
Honouring his sister's wishes, Ben did indeed get down on one knee and proposed to Ashley shortly before Deborah’s death in June 2022. The pair tied the knot in Barbados last April.
To listen to the full interview with Ben James and Sarah Wieczorek, search for 'The Life of Bryony' wherever you get your podcasts now.