Teen blogger dying of cancer writes 'final thumbs up'
A British teenager who has charted his fight against cancer on social media for 15 months to raise funds for a cancer charity has deteriorated markedly and on Tuesday wrote a farewell to thousands of Facebook followers: "It's a final thumbs up from me!"
Stephen Sutton, 19, of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England, has chronicled his battle through his Facebook blog Stephen'sStory and Twitter account @StephensStory, the Daily Mirrorreports.
"It's a final thumbs up from me! I've done well to blag things as well as I have up till now, but unfortunately I think this is just one hurdle too far. It's a shame the end has come so suddenly. There's so many people I haven't got round to properly thank or say goodbye to. Apologies for that.
"There was also so many exciting projects and things I didn't get to see out. Hopefully some will continue and if you want to carry on the fundraising please do.
"All future updates on this page will probably be from a family member. I hopefully may have the energy to write a few tweets. I will continue fighting for as long as I can, and whatever happens next I want you all to know I am currently in a good place mentally and at ease with the situation.
"That's it from me. But life has been good. Very good."
Sutton, who found out two years ago that his bowel cancer was incurable, has far outstripped his initial charity goal of raising £10,000 ($16,8000), bringing in £582,000 ($980,000) toward a new goal of £1 million.
The charity is aimed at helping improve the quality of life and chances of survival for young cancer patients ages 13 to 24.
His upbeat personality and positive spirit have rallied thousands to his Facebook page.
"I'm not afraid of dying, I'm afraid of not cramming as much into my life as I should have done," he told the Birmingham Maillast year.
On Tuesday, Sutton rallied briefly and, as promised, sent out a tweet: "Perked up quite a bit since earlier. Still here, still fighting, still very weak, but still smiling :)"