Esther Rantzen embraces Christmas amid cancer fight and reflects on life
Dame Esther Rantzen is especially excited about Christmas this year – because she never thought she would live to see it.
At the turn of the year, the veteran campaigner discovered she had cancer in a diagnosis that shocked her and those she knows and loves.
But the indefatigable octogenarian said treatments seem to be “holding the disease back” and she still treasures every single day.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express Dame Esther, 83, said: “This is the Christmas I thought I wouldn’t see because last January I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.”
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“Since then I’ve been taking one of the new targeted drugs. I know it cannot cure the cancer, but it can hold it back and slow it down a bit. So I’m looking forward to spending this Christmas with my family again, an extra precious present I didn’t expect.”
To millions the national treasure is fondly known as the presenter of That’s Life! which ran for 21 years and drew audiences of 18 million, and a tireless champion for the marginalised, forgotten and ill-treated.
In a groundbreaking move she set up ChildLine in 1986 and, exactly a decade ago tomorrow founded The Silver Line, Britain’s only 24-hour-a-day helpline for lonely and isolated pensioners.
The extra time she has been afforded means she can rightly celebrate a remarkable milestone, knowing her determination and drive has meant millions suffocating in the vice-like grip of loneliness have been handed a lifeline.
In selflessness that has become her trademark, Dame Esther said she continues to worry more about those less fortunate than her.
But this year her cancer fight, and effects of ongoing treatment, mean she will not be able to participate as she always has.
She said: “To my frustration, as with so many cancer patients, I find one debilitating side effect of the illness is fatigue. So very sadly I will not be able to speak to The Silver Line callers this year as usual, although of course, I will be thinking of them.”
“Until I became ill I used to regularly speak to a dozen older people over Christmas, callers who had asked for a phone call because they wanted to reach out to someone to share memories with, to talk about their feelings with, even to grumble at or tell a joke to. Their courage astonished me.”
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Dame Esther added: “I heard some very sad stories. I remember speaking to one gentleman whose surprise Christmas dinner was a tin of spaghetti he’d luckily found at the back of a cupboard when his carer had failed to arrive with the promised turkey. I talked to a lady who told me Christmas Day was ‘just another day to get through’.
“Another caller told me she had been invited by her family to Christmas lunch, but then dropped back into the loneliness she had escaped for an hour or two, and said, ‘I found myself in tears’. One gentleman told me, ‘to be 100% honest, Esther, you are the only person I’ve spoken to at all’. But as we talked to each other I could hear their voices growing stronger, and the loneliness retreated.”
Dame Esther Rantzen reveals how long she has left to live
This year, with her legacy secured and campaigning indelibly etched into the minds of British public, Dame Esther will allow herself to revel in the joys of Christmas alongside her three children Miriam, Rebecca and Joshua from her marriage to the late Desmond Wilcox, and her five beloved grandchildren Benji, 10, Xander and Teddy, 8 Florence and Romilly, 5.
She said: “My diagnosis made me realise how very lucky I’ve been in my life, working with ChildLine and The Silver Line, and meeting so many fascinating and inspiring people, and especially lucky to have spent 21 years working on That’s Life!”
“I’m not good at regrets. What I treasure most are the fantastic friendships I have made thanks to That’s Life! during the last 50 years, the people I met, and the team who worked so hard, and laughed so hard, together for so long.”
Despite dedicating her life to helping others, Dame Esther admitted to struggling with pangs of loneliness after her documentary maker husband – the man she still lovingly refers to as “my Desi” – died in 2000.
She said: “ChildLine proved to me that if you offer a way of safely providing help, people will use that resource. The elderly should not suffer in silence either.”
“Not a day goes by when I don’t think of Desi. The passage of time doesn’t make it any easier. Yes, I am very busy, but I still get terribly lonely. It can strike everyone, rich or poor, unknown or famous but there is a stigma that stops older people seeking help. They don’t want to be a burden.”
“The Silver Line has become the emergency service for older people. Many of our callers are frail, disabled, or caring for a partner who might have dementia. There are so many isolated and lonely older people who need our help right now.”
ChildLine became part of NSPCC in 2006 while The Silver Line is now part of Age UK.
Since its launch The Silver Line, supported by this newspaper and its Respect for the Elderly campaign, has answered 3,769,931 calls – averaging more than 500 a day. It costs £3m a year to run.
Dame Esther quit the rat race of London before Covid struck in 2020, moving permanently to the New Forest bolthole she brought with Desi decades earlier.
Lockdown and enforced separation left her isolated from her nearest and dearest, but she is now determined to enjoy a very special festive season, surrounded by the warmth of her family.
She was made a Dame in 2015 for services to children and older people and in 2021 received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Women of the Year Awards for her tireless charity work.
Last summer, Dame Esther played a starring role during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, appearing on an open-top London bus as part of a glittering pageant.
She said: “I was assigned to a bus representing the seventies, with national treasures of the decade like Angela Rippon and Lorraine Chase. It was a momentous decade in my own life with the launch of That’s Life!, and also my own wedding and the birth of two of my children.”
“It was [The Queen’s] day. But as I stood on the rostrum wedged between two Dames, Twiggy and Kelly Holmes, we turned to each other with tears in our eyes. Because it was clear she was there for us. She wanted to create happy memories for us, she had said so, and she knew we wanted the day to end with her smile. Her day, and she gave it to us. A memory to treasure.”
Dame Esther added: “This diagnosis prompted me to look back over the years, and I want to express my profound thanks to everyone who has made my life so joyful, filled with fun, and with inspiration.”
“First and foremost my family. My three children have been the most wonderful support, company, and source of love and laughter and I am deeply grateful to them.”
“My friends have been amazing and have created memories which sustain me and give me strength.”
“My colleagues with whom I have worked, and continue to work with in broadcasting, journalism, the voluntary sector, and in many other organisations have been a constant pleasure, and have amazed me with their tolerance of my wild ideas and awful jokes.”
“I have been continuously inspired by the courageous children, older people and viewers who have trusted me with their life stories. I have always tried to live up to that trust.”
Next week The Daily Express will celebrate the remarkable work of The Silver Line and its impact on the forgotten millions who have come to rely on it.
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