The fundraiser launched by Stephen Sutton, a young Briton who died at the age of 19 from bowel cancer, has reached almost £ 5 million. The sum goes to a Cancer Support Foundation.
It was his dearest wish. He even hoped to be in the record books. With 5 million pounds collected (more than 6 million euros), the young British Stephen Sutton, who died of intestinal cancer last May at the age of 19, leaves a beautiful legacy to the English Foundation Teenage Cancer Trust, which supports young people with cancer.
Call on Facebook
Stephen Sutton was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 15, “an extremely rare thing” according to doctors. But the young man is not discouraged and decides to make a list of all the things he wants to do before dying. On his list is the desire to write a book, to parachute and to present a television news. But also to make a generous donation to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
He is appealing for donations on Facebook by telling his story and the evolution of his state of health. Its story ended up moving all of England, then the whole world. Result: more than 100,000 people decided to participate in the fundraising. After her death last May, the question arose of the continuation of the fundraising: will she continue? The answer is yes, and it continues.
“Stephen’s efforts have allowed us to be more ambitious,” says Teenage Cancer Trust. “I am very proud of my son and I think this all goes beyond his wildest dreams. Stephen would have been very happy, ”said his mother Jane Sutton.
300 trips financed by fundraising
Donations that the charity plans to spend now. This Tuesday, the latter presents its projects. Thus, 4 oncology units will soon open their doors in hospitals in Great Britain and Scotland and 3 others will be renovated. The Foundation also provides a budget to train nurses to work in the new units.
A total of 1,500 young cancer patients will also be able to attend conferences and go to weekends organized by the Teenage Cancer Foundation for several years, during which they will be able to meet, discuss, and support each other in their situation.
Part of the sum collected by Stephen Sutton (250,000 euros) will be used to pay for the trip to 300 teenagers so that they can participate in these weekends. When he was still alive, Stephen Sutton had confided that these weekends “had profoundly changed the way he perceived his own cancer”, reports The Independent.
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