Stephen Sutton was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the age of 15. Despite aggressive radiation and chemotherapy treatments, at 17 he was told that his condition was incurable.
Despite the grim prognosis, Stephen created a “bucket list” – a list of things that he wanted to do before he died. It was his work on ticking off the ambitions he listed that drew the world’s attention to his cause and at the 29th May, he had single handedly raised just short of £4,000,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Stephen passed away in his sleep on the 14th May aged 19 having achieved more in his short life that many of us will achieve in our own. It is for this reason that he is being remembered here and why the world should also remember him on Friday, 30th May – the day of his funeral.
Stephen’s friends and family have suggested that anyone aware of his story take a moment at 11am on Friday morning to give a Thumbs Up For Stephen – whether giving the thumbs up to a stranger, performing a random act of kindness or just doing something that makes them feel good. People can even take a cheerful “selfie” at this time, and if anyone local wants to share a photo, they are welcome to do so on the Delvin Facebook Page.
Stephen’s Bucket List
1) Raise £10,000 for teenage cancer trust- NEW TARGET.. £1,000,000 – DONE
2) Skydive for charity – DONE
3) Bungee jump for charity (at some place like the Macua tower, Verzasca dam, Victoria falls, etc)
4) Organize a charity party – DONE
5) Charity waxing and head shave
6) Write a book – DONE
7) Release a “tumour humour” joke book containing jokes, funny stories and anecdotes from cancer, that can help people to look at the brighter side of life
8) Organize a charity football match – DONE
9) Do a charity hitchhike visiting every Teenage Cancer Trust unit across the country
10) Write, record and release a charity single with my old band
11) Organize a charity gig – DONE
12) Go busking! – DONE
13) Persuade local schools to have a ‘get wiggy with it’ non uniform day – DONE
14) Charity quizzes at local pubs – DONE
15) Organize a charity ball – DONE
16) Host a charity ‘Come Dine With STE’ dinner party for friends – DONE
17) Organize and be part of a flash mob – DONE
18) Organize a gigantic game of musical chairs/pass the parcel/etc – DONE
19) Go to a carnival in Brazil.
20) Go to Wembley to see a football match – DONE
21) Go to Twickenham to see a rugby match – DONE
22) Fly somewhere first class – DONE
23) Get a tattoo – DONE
24) Drum in front of a huge crowd – DONE
25) Do some public speaking in front of a huge crowd of people – DONE
26) Go visit a famous waterfall
27) Throw a massive party for all my friends – DONE
28) Go on a ‘lads holiday’ – DONE
29) Go to Australia
30) Hug an animal that is bigger than me – DONE
31) Ride a Segway – DONE
32) Go to a Skrillex concert
33) Go see a darts competition – DONE
34) Get my name into the Guinness World Book of Records somehow
35) Go to CERN in Switzerland – DONE
36) Meet Jimmy Carr – DONE
37) Go to another music festival – DONE
38) Find someone with more surgical scars than me (>47cm worth) – DONE
39) Star as an extra in a film or music video – DONE
40) Get Tim Minchin to write a song for me – DONE
41) Learn to juggle
42) Inspire someone else to become a doctor or fundraiser – DONE
43) Have my portrait drawn – DONE
44) Crowd surf in a rubber dingy at a gig – DONE
45) Try breathing in xenon or sulphur dioxide and talking (has the opposite effect of helium)
46) Visit Machu Picchu in Peru