Donations continue after Stephen dies

The mother of a teenager who raised £3.2m (€3.9m) for charity during his fight against bowel cancer has praised his bravery and expressed pride at his "inspirational" efforts to help others.

Stephen Sutton’s mother, Jane, said the 19-year-old died early yesterday, three days after being readmitted to hospital.

In a message posted on Stephen’s Facebook page, she wrote: “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.

“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.”

My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain for my courageous, selfless, inspirational son who passed... http://t.co/3FoImIZa1B

— Stephen's Story (@_StephensStory) May 14, 2014

Publicity surrounding his battle with the disease saw the teenager smash his original £10,000 fundraising target for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Countless other tributes were also paid to Stephen by sports stars, political leaders and celebrity supporters of his campaign to help the Teenage Cancer Trust, including comedian Jason Manford.

Stephen, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, was readmitted to hospital on Sunday after developing breathing difficulties caused by the re-growth of multiple tumours.

Stephen, who was diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer aged 15, was visited earlier this month at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital by Prime Minister David Cameron, who praised his incredible efforts to help others.

In a message posted on his Twitter page, Mr Cameron said: “I’m deeply saddened to hear that Stephen Sutton has died. His spirit, bravery and fundraising for cancer research were all an inspiration.”

Donations to the Trust via Stephen’s fundraising page — www.justgiving.com/stephen-sutton-tct — continued to pour in as news of his death spread on social media.

Within two hours of Stephen’s death being announced, the amount raised on the JustGiving page had risen above £3.3m.

Manford, who helped to champion Stephen’s fundraising, paid tribute to the teenager as being “the most inspiring person I’ve ever met”.

The comedian added: “He was an incredibly positive young man and a credit to his family, to Burntwood and to humanity itself.”

“RIP Stephen Sutton” was the number one trending topic on Twitter in the UK in the hours after his death was announced and one of the top 10 worldwide trends.