NOT A SOB STORY, STEPHEN’S STORY

Stephen was just an ordinary British teenager getting on with his life. He was keen on sport and played football for a local youth team. He used to play drums in a band and would often go running. A regular guy. He was bright, and his ambition was to be a doctor and study medicine at Cambridge University.

But, in 2010, when he was only 15, Stephen was diagnosed with cancer. Despite having seven major operations and four regimes of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Stephen insisted on leading a normal life. When he had the energy, he would go out with his friends, and he even went cross-country running while he was undergoing treatment. Although the doctors advised him to take a year out of school, Stephen continued with his studies and took his school exams, getting excellent results. His teachers were impressed with his determination and courage.

At first, Stephen seemed to be getting better. But at 17 years old, he was told that he didn’t have long to live. In January 2013 he decided to share his life and outlook with the whole world, making an online page called “Stephen’s Story”. His intention was to raise money for the charity Teenage Cancer Trust. He didn’t want his page to be read as a ‘sob story’ but as an account of his life.

Stephen wanted to put the ‘fun in fundraising’. He created a ‘bucket list’ of 46 things to do before he died. The first item on the list was to raise £10,000 for charity, which he managed to do very quickly. He ticked off many of the other things on his list too. He played drums in front of 90,000 people at the UEFA Champions League Final, got a tattoo and went skydiving. He hugged an elephant, rode a Segway, visited CERN in Switzerland and made a film. While he was doing charity events, he met many celebrities.

With thousands of followers online, Stephen eventually managed to raise over £3 million for charity. In fact, his charity activities and his desire to build awareness about teenagers struggling with illness became the most important thing. He gave inspiring talks to motivate young people to make the most of their lives. He wanted to spread happiness, so he created a ‘Good Gestures Day’ where young people in his home town gave strangers high fives, hugs and handshakes.

Unfortunately, in May 2014, Stephen became seriously ill and died in his sleep at the age of 19. Stephen’s bravery touched many people –more than 135,000 people around the world donated via his website and people continued making donations after his death at the rate of £700 a minute. In his own words, “I don’t see the point in measuring life in terms of time any more. I’d rather measure life in terms of making a difference.”