WHETHER you love her or hate her, it's impossible not to feel sorry for Jade Goody.

Dying of a cancer that has spread from her cervix to her liver, groin, bowel and now brain, Jade has thrown open the doors for the world to see.

Some think the amount of attention that the reality TV star is receiving is cheapening the suffering of thousands of others dying from cancer.

“It's not just her who's going through this horrendous experience,” they say.

Others think people who say they feel sorry for Jade, when they have criticised her in the past, are being two-faced and hypocritical.

I don't think so.

I think people's interest is natural, and shows that, thankfully, we aren't as cynical as we fear we've become.

The whole situation is unique.

Most people choose to die in peace, surrounded only by their family.

So for thousands of people across the country, this will have been their first experience of watching someone dying of cancer.

It’s not surprising really that Jade has decided to document her dying moments in such a fashion; it is, after all, all she really knows. She's been followed by reality TV cameras for her whole adult life, since she burst on to our screens in 2002 as a 20-year-old contestant on Big Brother.

But there’s got to be a time, I believe, when someone steps in and says enough is enough.

With the latest revelation that Jade’s cancer has spread to her brain, and that she will likely suffer excruciating headaches, frequent fits, vomiting and confusion, I feel that now is the time to turn the cameras off and let this brave young woman die in peace.

I know Jade has said she wants the cameras there so she can make as much cash as possible for her sons, but I worry she isn't aware of how ugly the last few months and weeks of life with cancer can be. Watching someone desperately in pain in a state of confusion is not suitable to be served up as entertainment.

Jade can rest in peace knowing she's provided for her sons, Bobby Jack, five; and Freddie, four. She must have plenty of money already in the bank, and anyway, they can still have wonderfully happy lives and great prospects without millions. Money isn't the answer to everything.

She can be proud that good has come out of the way she's handled this awful disease too. Doctors’ surgeries have reported that the number of young women booking themselves in for previously-avoided smear tests is through-the-roof.

The problem is that there isn’t anyone in Jade's life to take responsibility and say stop. She's never had anybody looking after her. She's always been the one looking after everybody else.

So perhaps it's down to all of us.

The British media has a bad reputation, but it has proved in the past that it can do the right thing when required.

Perhaps it's time for editors to make decisions concerning stories about Jade Goody on a “should we” rather than “can we" basis.