What would you do if you knew you had little time to live? Stephen Sutton, 19, made the decision to help other teens with cancer.
This young man has suffered from colorectal cancer since he was 15 years old. In January 2013, he learned that he would not beat his colorectal cancer. The young Briton, who wanted to become a doctor, decides to take advantage of his remaining life expectancy by taking on several challenges. “Originally all I wanted to do was work hard and change the world by becoming a doctor. But in light of the circumstances, I decided to be more pragmatic: it’s about using so much ‘opportunities as possible to enrich my own experience and most importantly to try to improve the lives of others through fundraising and cancer awareness in adolescents and young adults, ”he explains.
Among the 46 dreams he sets out to achieve: to kiss an elephant, to get a tattoo, to parachute, to appear alongside celebrities. In the list of his desires, there is one that Stephen is particularly fond of: he wants to raise funds for a foundation helping children suffering from cancer.
A country suspended from its state of health
To carry out this altruistic project, he launched a call for donations on Just giving, a British crowdfunding site designed for associations. Stephen Sutton has set himself a starting target of 12,000 euros (10,000 pounds). It is an understatement to say that his challenge has been taken up: it is not 12,000 euros but 3.7 million euros that have been collected. 127,000 people were moved by Stephen Sutton’s story. They have been following for a year the realization of Stephen’s dreams on his Facebook page.
Stephen Sutton turned the UK upside down and there isn’t a day he isn’t talked about in the press and on social media. The whole country is suspended on its state of health. “I called the nurse to increase my oxygen level. My breath became incredibly short. Panic, I felt choking,” he says, quoted by AFP. Messages that do not ‘not taint his optimism.
