Esther Rantzen toasts birthday she never thought she'd reach thanks to 'miracle drugs'

Dame Esther Rantzen toasts a birthday she never thought she would reach thanks to the "miracle drugs" keeping her alive.

The much-loved terminally ill campaigner, 84, will celebrate an anniversary she really did not think she would get to experience with her family.

Grandmother-of-five Esther, diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in January last year, told the Express: “This birthday will feel extra, extra special, thanks to wonderful medical help.”

She will celebrate with children Rebecca, Joshua and Miriam, grandchildren Benji, nine, Xander and Teddy, seven, and Florence and Romilly, four.

There will be no fanfare, fuss or surprises at the national treasure’s New Forest home - just lashings of “chocolate cake” on which they will all merrily feast.

The low-key gathering is oh so typical of the no-frills former That’s Life! presenter who never thought such a happy summer birthday reunion would take place.

Her daughter Rebecca, 44, said: “Every day is a big moment for us - it’s no longer our last Christmas, our last Mother’s Day or our last Easter. Every single day is precious.

“The most important thing is to see each other as often as possible because life is finite, we are all very aware of that, and to love each moment we have together.

“My boys, Benjamin and Alexander, adore my mother, who is a naughty (though charmingly so) influence upon them.”

She added: “My brother said living with mum is like living next to a volcano - you don’t know whether the flowing lava is going to be flowers and celebrations or explosion. She's never done something to win our approval, it’s always because of what is right.

“Her early adopting of campaigns is probably the most underrated skill she has. She has a strange zeitgeist, even at 84. She is always on the money and always gets it. She is the person I ring several times a day and see her several times a week. But hell hath no fury like Esther being told no.”

Dame Esther has been taking a treatment she calls her “miracle drug”, which cannot cure her cancer, but delays its progression.

She has regular scans to determine whether it is working and is acutely aware that at some point it will stop.

Until then, she is determined to savour every moment.

And tomorrow she will indulge herself in rest, reminiscence, and contemplation as she enjoys life’s simple but irreplaceable pleasures.

She relishes being in the comfort of her Hampshire bolthole among flowers and birdsong with her family. It will be a day filled with food, fun and games, with her beloved garden reverberating to the sound of laughter, despite the realisation this might be the last birthday she shares with her nearest and dearest.

Typically upbeat and eternally optimistic, the lifelong champion of the underdog was born in the same year as the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation - fittingly codenamed Operation Dynamo.

She shares her special day with Meryl Steep and Prunella Scales, while Sir Tom Jones is of the same vintage.

Selfless Esther said: “I feel very privileged to be in such talented company, so happy birthday to all of them and thanks for all the joy they’ve given millions of us over the years. And one of my uncles sailed his little ship to Dunkirk to save soldiers’ lives by bringing them back safely, so I’m proud to be born in that momentous year."

Asked what she would choose, if granted one wish to make a dream come on the special day, the indefatigable octogenarian said: “When my time comes, a good death. And until then, enough time so that my grandchildren and I can watch the tadpoles in my garden pond turn into happy frogs.”

Dame Esther became a firm family favourite fronting That’s Life! which ran for 21-years from 1973, drawing audiences of 18 million. She founded children’s charity ChildLine in 1986 and The Silver Line for lonely and isolated OAPs in 2013, cementing her place as Britain's de facto mother.

She is now campaigning alongside the Daily Express to give those, like her, who have been struck down with terminal diseases legal rights to end their lives how and when they wish. The fight has been dubbed Esther’s Law.

She lost her husband Desmond Wilcox, father of their three children and the man she still affectionately describes as "My Desi", after a “slow and painful death” battling heart disease in 2000.

Last year she revealed how, like thousands of other Britons, she had joined the Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland and "might buzz off to Zurich" at any point.

It prompted a tidal wave of support in her fight to change the law on assisted dying, which remains illegal and carries a 14-year jail sentence.

Dame Esther was moved to tears after being besieged with heartbreaking stories of injustice and, in April, her dogged campaigning saw MPs debate the issue.

Although it triggered no meaningful vote, Sir Keir Starmer made a personal promise that he will change the law if Labour wins next month’s general election.

She said: “My life would be completely different if I was absolutely confident I could have a painless death surrounded by my loved ones and that if palliative care wasn’t working for me then I could ask to be helped to end my life. It’s my choice and if I choose it then I think the law should allow me to.

“Like everyone in my situation, my diagnosis is a constant background to everything I do. I watched the spring flowers come up thinking this was probably my last spring. When I talk to my grandchildren when they come and visit me I am very aware these moments are precious. "They may be the last memories they have of me, so my own death is constantly in my mind.

“It would give me so much confidence if I could also know that, however the illness progresses, I will still have the choice of a pain-free, dignified, private death, surrounded by people I love.”