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Jane Sutton: My son Stephen taught me how to live

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Stephen Sutton was a remarkable young man. After a devastating cancer diagnosis at the age of 15, his determination to live life to the fullest – all the while giving his trademark thumbs up – touched the hearts of many, not least his proud mother. "I was never a moaner," Jane Sutton said in an interview with the Telegraph. "But I used to worry about the small things. Now I find myself thinking, 'Why did I ever worry about that?'

stephen © Photo: Facebook
Inspirational Stephen Sutton

"One of the things Stephen used to tell me all the time was, 'Don't sweat the small stuff. Go out and enjoy yourself'. That's certainly how I intend to live my life from now on." Jane also spoke about Stephen's bucket list – 46 "weird and wonderful" things he wanted to do, from juggling and meeting Jimmy Carr, to going on a lads' holiday and getting a tattoo. Despite there being only five months between him writing it and his death in May, he managed to tick most of them off.

jane © Photo: Rex

One wish was to raise £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. "I can remember at the time wondering how will we raise that much," Jane confessed. 

Stephen surpassed all expectation. His campaign went viral on social media and he quickly became a household name, meeting celebrities and politicians to help raise awareness of his disease.

stephen david © Photo: Facebook

Now, four months after his death, the money continues to come in. This week it was revealed that the 19-year-old raised over £5million for the charity, and has been confirmed as the Trust's most prolific fundraiser of all time. It's a legacy that his mother is understandably " immensely proud " of.

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