Extremely sad news.
One of the most inspiring persons we’ve ever heard about, Stephen Sutton, died on May 14th after a long battle with terminal cancer.
The tragic event happened after Stephen was readmitted to the hospital three days ago, and he eventually succumbed to bowel cancer.
The loss of the brilliant 19-year-old, who raised over $5 Million dollars for the charity Teenage Cancer Trust, was felt around the world as hundreds of thousands of internet users tried to donate to his Just Giving page before it temporarily crashed.
The extremely sad news was first reported by Stephen’s mother who wrote on his Facebook page:
“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”
His older brother Chris also wrote a loving message in memoriam of his younger brother, and said:
“So Stephen passed away in the early hours of this morning. I could sit here all day typing words like inspirational, proud, but frankly his life and what he achieved speaks for itself, it doesn’t need a rambling eulogy from me. He’ll still always be a bit of tw*t to me, hey he was my younger brother, it’s in the contract, but I was blessed to grow up with the best little tw*t you could have. So yeah, RIP bro.”
Stephen was diagnosed with bowel cancer when he was 15-years-old, but his altruism and upbeat attitude in the face of death touched the hearts of millions of people who quickly became his fans.
In April, Stephen gave a farewell to his fans on his blog, and wrote:
“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.”
Some of the people who tweeted out respect to Stephen Sutton included Ricky Gervais who wrote:
RIP Stephen Sutton. A true hero & inspiration to us all. #stephensstory
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) May 14, 2014
And David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who wrote:
I'm deeply saddened to hear that Stephen Sutton has died. His spirit, bravery and fundraising for cancer research were all an inspiration.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) May 14, 2014
The loss of such a remarkable human being is extremely tough to swallow, but his memory and amazingly effective efforts for charity will live on and will always be remembered.
Rest in peace, Stephen.
[Image via Facebook.]