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As long as Stephen was able to draw breath, this 'awesome' (his favourite word) young man was determined to help others and 'do as much good as I can'
So many adjectives have been ascribed to Stephen Sutton: inspirational, amazing, extraordinary. All of these are true, but none of them do him justice.
As long as he was able to draw breath, this ‘awesome’ (his favourite word) young man was determined to help others and ‘do as much good as I can’.
‘I genuinely enjoy the feeling of making a positive different to others,’ he told me a few days ago, in what would be his final interview. ‘The best way to help yourself is to help others, isn’t it?’
We didn’t know then that the interview with Stephen, published in Monday’s newspaper, would be one of his last acts of goodness.
Stephen, you see, wanted nothing more than to raise more funds for his nominated charity, the Teenage Cancer Trust. He hoped by speaking publicly he would encourage others to donate.
By the time I interviewed him, even speaking was a painful, drawn-out process. Stephen was on morphine for the last week of his life to try to manage his dreadful pain.
He had tumours in his calf, his knee, his groin, his pelvis, his chest wall and his airway.
The latter tumour was of particular concern. He was suffering throughout the hour-and-a-half we spoke with a rasping cough.
Such, though, was this 19-year-old’s astonishing determination to tell his story, that whenever I asked if he’d like to rest, he refused.
‘I’m relatively healthy on the whole. I’ve a few breathing difficulties which is probably a hangover from what happened a few weeks ago.
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Stephen Sutton, the 19-year-old who raised more than £3million for charity, died from cancer today
‘I just want to get on with as many projects as I can and focus on the fundraising,’ he added.
It was impossible not to be profoundly moved by Stephen, who captured our hearts and minds when he posted a final thumbs up farewell on Facebook believing himself to ‘be a goner’, particularly as the mother of a 17-year-old boy whose future – university, a career, a happy marriage – I take for granted.
Like Stephen was, he is sporty. Like Stephen was, he is ambitious. Like Stephen was, he is a very much-loved son. Goodness only knows how Stephen’s mother Jane is coping today.
As part of his bucket list Stephen met comic hero Jimmy Carr (left), played drums in front of thousands of football fans at Wembley and met England star Frank Lampard (right)
Comedian Jason Manford held shows in aid of Stephen, once interviewing him via phone while on stage
John Bishop and Rodger Daltery, lead singer of The Who, were among the many famous face to meet Stephen
I know they cared for one another deeply. Indeed, Stephen understood that it took a selfless mother not to ‘wrap me in cotton wool, but let me get on and do the things I’ve managed to do despite my illness’.
How she must have railed ten days ago when despicable internet trolls attacked her son within days of his being discharged from hospital on May 2, claiming they’d been ‘duped’ by his temporary reprieve and asking for their money back.
Stephen dealt with this appalling reflection of the savagery of social media with mature equanimity.
‘Like I say, cancer sucks and life’s great, but life isn’t perfect. On the whole the love and support I received from the four corners of the world swamped the badness,’ he said, before adding with such poignant bewilderment I wanted to give him a huge hug: ‘It’s funny, perhaps I’d be worth more if I died to some people.’
Today I hope those reprehensible trolls hang their heads in shame. This young man achieved more in the 18 months since he was diagnosed with incurable cancer than many of us will in a lifetime.
Indeed, in my years writing for this newspaper I’ve interviewed many exceptional people, but never have I felt quite as humbled as I was by this thoroughly decent young man.
'It was impossible not to be profoundly moved by Stephen, who captured our hearts and minds when he posted a final thumbs up farewell on Facebook believing himself to "be a goner"'
Even when he revealed ‘his anger’ over his cancer being shamefully misdiagnosed by doctors as constipation for six crucial months he shrugged and said: ‘But even with saying that, I’m not one to dwell on the past. It is what it is.’And, when I asked how he endured the often excruciating treatment without ever throwing in the towel, he explained: ‘It’s a kind of investment.
'You go through that much pain or that much treatment because, at the end of the day, it’s going to give you so much extra life and the extra life is definitely worth it. Life is brilliant.’
He quite simply blew me away. Just this week 70-year-old Cilla Black talked of wanting to die at 75, while TV presenters Richard and Judy revealed they had agreed to help each other die if they became ill.
They spoke of death with the casual arrogance of those who have enjoyed long, healthy lives – something Stephen was sadly denied.
But while they might be looking forward to death, Stephen showed us all how to live.
He was, you see, the absolute antithesis of the ‘me, me, me’ celebrity culture that volubly embraced his campaign, particularly those who began tweeting like crows when his sad death was announced yesterday by his mum.
Stephen was utterly altruistic. There was no attention-seeking agenda. Every single penny of the more than £3.2million he raised went straight to his nominated charity.
Stephen's inspirational story also caught the attention of David Cameron, who visited him in hospital
First and foremost, Stephen was a rare, selfless young man who, when his diagnosis of incurable cancer put paid to his ambitions to be a doctor, found his own way of helping others in the precious few months he had left.
So successful was he that, in the last few days of his life, an internet campaign gathered momentum to honour him with a knighthood.
In truth, whilst I’m sure he’d have been grateful for the goodwill, I don’t believe it’s something he’d have valued.
Such things are, after all, ephemeral to a 19-year-old who has, if he’s ‘lucky’, months to live. No, I’m sure that anyone who wants to honour Stephen should do so by digging deep in their pocket or doing good.
Remember, number 42 on his now infamous 46-point bucket list was to ‘inspire someone to be a doctor or fundraiser’.
When he died he had not quite finished all the things on his list. He didn’t care. The fundraising had taken priority.
The last words Stephen said to me, when I thanked him for the almost superhuman effort he’d made for this interview, were ‘pleasure. I’m happy to be here’.
We were due to speak again on Sunday when Stephen had read the article to make any amendments he wished. It was, after all, important, that this was his story.
After he passed away tributes poured in for Stephen, including those written by his former classmates in a condolence book at his old school
Members of staff tied ribbons on the gates of Chase Terrace Technology College in honour of Stephen today
We never spoke again. Instead, I received a phone call to tell me he’d been readmitted to hospital with breathing difficulties.
As he lay there on oxygen literally battling for his life, he insisted upon checking through the article. He desperately wanted others to read it. After making a few notes, there was one change he asked for.
He wanted his hope that he had months to live ‘if I’m lucky’ replaced with ‘any time I do have is a bonus’. His final post on Facebook was later that day, when he wrote he’d been re-admitted to hospital.
Yesterday, his mother – and God only knows where she found the strength – updated his page with the words: ‘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.’
Much like his now infamous thumbs-up farewell, her post went viral. Within an hour my 17-year-old son texted me from school to tell me, of his own volition, he’d pinned Stephen’s final interview onto the school noticeboard.
‘Everyone should read it and be inspired by him,’ he tapped out. ‘He was so awesome.’ Which, of course, Stephen Sutton was.
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