Stephen Sutton, who set up a bucket list of things to do before he died, smashed his original £10,000 fundraising target. Photograph: Stephen Sutton/PA
Teenager
Stephen Sutton, who raised more than £3.2m for the Teenage
Cancer Trust, has died in hospital. Announcing his death, his mother Jane said: "My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain for my courageous, selfless, inspirational son."
In a statement posted on the Stephen's Story Facebook page, the 19-year-old's family said he had passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
David Cameron tweeted his condolences, writing: "I'm deeply saddened to hear that Stephen Sutton has died. His spirit, bravery and fundraising for cancer research were all an inspiration."
Stephen, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, was re-admitted to hospital on Sunday after developing breathing difficulties caused by the re-growth of tumours.
In the Facebook message, his mother said: "The ongoing support and outpouring of love for Stephen will help greatly at this difficult time, in the same way as it helped Stephen throughout his journey.
"We all know he will never be forgotten, his spirit will live on, in all that he achieved and shared with so many."
Sutton's story was propelled to national prominence by his use of social media to promote his fundraising. As well as a
JustGiving donations page he had a
website and a
Facebook page, along with a
Twitter feed,
YouTube channel and Tumblr and Instagram pages.
STATEMENT FROM FAMILY
Stephen's story
My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain for my courageous, selfless, inspirational son who passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of this morning, Wednesday 14th May. The ongoing support and outpouring of love for Stephen will help greatly at this difficult time, in the same way as it helped Stephen throughout his journey. We all know he will never be forgotten, his spirit will live on, in all that he achieved and shared with so many.
Love,
His mom x
STATEMENT FROM MAKE A WISH FOUNDATIONOur thoughts are with Stephen's family at this hard time. We are honored to have helped grant the wish of such a brave and inspirational young man whose story touched the global Make-A-Wish community.
http://bit.ly/stephenswish #StephensStory lives on.
STATEMENT FROM TEENAGE CANCER TRUST
The thoughts of everyone here at Teenage Cancer Trust are with Stephen’s family and friends. We are humbled and hugely grateful for what Stephen achieved and continues to achieve for young people with cancer.
"Stephen has made an enormous difference to Teenage Cancer Trust and the seven young people diagnosed with cancer every day who need our help.” - Teenage Cancer Trust CEO Siobhan Dunn http://bit.ly/1iLtCqU #stephensstory
STATEMENT FROM STEPHEN
It's a final thumbs up from me! I've done well to blag things as well as I have up till now, but unfortunately I think this is just one hurdle too far.
It's a shame the end has come so suddenly- there's so many people I haven't got round to properly thank or say goodbye too. Apologies for that.
There was also so many exciting projects and things I didn't get to see out. Hopefully some will continue and if you want to carry on the fundraising please do (justgiving.com/stephen-
...sutton-TCT
is the link to donate to).
All future updates on this page will probably be from a family member. I hopefully may have the energy to write a few tweets (@_StephensStory). I will continue fighting for as long as I can, and whatever happens next I want you all to know I am currently in a good place mentally and at ease with the situation.
That's it from me. But life has been good. Very good.
Thank you to my mum and the rest of my family for everything. Thank you to my friends for being amazing. Thank you to my medical team for the hard work and effort they've continually they've put towards me. And thank you everyone else for sharing this wonderful journey with me.
I love you all x
