Stephen Sutton dies: Teenager has raised £4m

Tributes have poured in for the teenager who has been hailed an inspiration

Stephen Sutton, who has died of cancer

The amount of money raised for charity by the late Stephen Sutton has hit £4million, days after the teenager died of cancer.

The 19-year-old’s family announced that he had passed away on Wednesday, after his condition deteriorated earlier in the week.

The Prime Minister was among those to post tributes on social media to the fundraising teenager, who was widely hailed as an inspiration.

Stephen was diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 15, but doctors told him last December that his disease was incurable.

Anticipating his death, the teenager put raising £10,000 for The Teenager Cancer Trust at the top of a bucket list which he shared on his Stephen’s Story Facebook page.

Last month, Stephen made international headlines when an emotional farewell message he wrote on his page prompted thousands of people to donate to the cancer charity.

Soon, celebrities including Benedict Cumberbatch and Jason Manford took to social media to encourage more donations - helping Stephen to raise over £3 million and smash his previous target.

In an interview with The Sun before he died, the teenager said: “You only get one shot at life. I need to make every second count.”

He added: “I'd much rather measure how long I've got left in terms of achievements, rather than time. How quickly the clock ticks is unimportant to me.

"What matters is raising awareness and raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust."

Read more: Stephen Sutton: an inspirational teenager
In 'losing his fight with cancer', Stephen still found a way to win

In the hours following Stephen’s death, donations on Stephen's Just Giving page surged by more than £100,000. Now, with Gift Aid accounted for, the £3,682,871 worth of donations will be bumped up to £4,592,568.

“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,” Stephen’s mother, Jane Sutton, wrote in a statement on the Stephen's Story Facebook page which confirmed his death.

“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,” she added.