'My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain': Mother of cancer patient Stephen Sutton, 19, pays tribute to her 'courageous, selfless and inspirational son' after he loses his fight for life

The mother of the inspirational Stephen Sutton has today told of her heartbreak at the death of the 'courageous, selfless and inspirational' teenager who raised more than £3million for charity.
Stephen, 19, lost his battle with bowel cancer in the early hours of this morning.
In the months before his death he won the hearts of millions, inspiring people across the world and raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Announcing his death on Facebook today, his mother Jane said: 'My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain for my courageous, selfless, inspirational son who passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of this morning, Wednesday 14th May.

Stephen Sutton, 19, who raised more than £3million for charity, today died after a battle with bowel cancer

Stephen's mother, Jane, told of her heartbreak at the death of her 'courageous, inspirational and selfless' son, announcing his death on Facebook

‘The ongoing support and outpouring of love for Stephen will help greatly at this difficult time, in the same way as it helped Stephen throughout his journey.
‘We all know he will never be forgotten, his spirit will live on, in all that he achieved and shared with so many. Love, His mom x’
Within minutes of sharing her message, the post had been shared on the social network more than 100,000 times.
And a surge of people visiting Stephen's Just Giving page to donate in his memory caused the page to crash.
Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes to the 19-year-old, praising his 'spirit and bravery', and hailing Stephen 'an inspiration'.
He wrote: 'I'm deeply saddened to hear that Stephen Sutton has died. His spirit, bravery and fundraising for cancer research were all an inspiration.'
The Labour leader Ed Miliband echoed his opponent's sentiment, tweeting: 'Tragic news that Stephen Sutton has passed away.
'His bravery & determination (SIC) to live life to the full was an inspiration to us all.'
Siobhan Dunn, Chief Executive of Teenage Cancer Trust: 'Stephen was an exceptional young man and ambassador for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Stephen pictured with his mother Jane at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the teenager's 'spirit and bravery', hailing him an 'inspiration'

The 19-year-old won the hearts of the British public, raising £3.25million through his blog

Comedian Jason Manford, who helped to champion Stephen's fundraising, said today: 'Stephen Sutton was the most inspiring person I've ever met and touched more lives than he will ever know'

'He will be remembered for his incredible positivity by all who met or connected with him. Stephen didn’t measure life in time, preferring instead to measure it by the difference someone makes.
'Stephen has made an enormous difference to Teenage Cancer Trust and the seven young people diagnosed with cancer every day who need our help.'
Comedian Jason Manford, who helped to champion Stephen's fundraising, said today: 'Stephen Sutton was the most inspiring person I've ever met and touched more lives than he will ever know.
'He was an incredibly positive young man and a credit to his family, to Burntwood and to humanity itself.

'My heart is bursting with pride but breaking with pain for my courageous, selfless, inspirational son who passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of this morning'
- Jane, Stephen's mother

'The reason we took to him so passionately was because he was better than us, he did something that none of us could even imagine doing.
'In his darkest hour he selflessly dedicated his final moments to raising millions of pounds for teenagers with cancer.
'Some of Stephen's words will stay with me and others forever and they are words to live by - "life isn't measured in time, it's measured in achievements".
'If that's true, Stephen, then you had a fulfilling life full of special moments and you will live long in the memory of thousands, if not millions, of people.'
Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive of Bowel Cancer UK, described Stephen's death as 'an absolute tragedy'.
Ms Alsina said: 'Stephen's story struck a chord with the nation, putting teenage cancer, and bowel cancer specifically, firmly in the public eye.
'He has undoubtedly created greater awareness in the public and the clinical community that bowel cancer can affect younger people too and for this we owe him such gratitude.
'In his memory, and in memory of so many other young bowel cancer patients whose lives are needlessly lost, we will continue to tirelessly campaign for bowel cancer to be ruled out first not last within the diagnostic process.
'We will also continue to raise awareness that whilst younger people's risk is thankfully low, you are, in fact, never too young to develop bowel cancer.'

Presenter Claire Balding paid tribute, tweeting how 'privileged' she felt ot have met Stephen

And comedian Ricky Gervais described the teenager as 'a true hero and inspiration to us all'

Stephen's trademark thumbs-up pose was coined after he sent a message from his hospital bed with the message 'a final thumbs up from me'. Countless celebrities and politicians, including Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured with Stephen two weeks ago) rallied to help the teenager

Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeted his tribute to Stephen, describing the teenager as 'an inspiration to us all'

Through his Just Giving page Stephen raised more than £3.2million for the Teenage Cancer Trust

The 19-year-old from Burntwood in Staffordshire was diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer at the age of 15.
He had been suffering sickness, stomach pains, weight loss and a loss of appetite but was repeated told by doctors he had constipation.
Tragically, it was six months before Stephen’s cancer finally discovered.
It was only picked up after an emergency CT scan when he became so ill he couldn’t keep down any food or fluids and he couldn’t sleep because of the pain.

He believed that if he had been diagnosed sooner, his prognosis might have been very different.

In an interview with the Daily Mail this week he said: ‘There always will be anger. If it had been caught earlier it could have led to a better prognosis. It could have changed the situation.

‘But even saying that, I’m not one to dwell on the past. It is what it is.’

Stephen underwent surgery and six months of chemotherapy before being told the cancer had gone.

Devastatingly, he soon discovered a lump behind his knee and was told the cancer had returned.

He had further surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy but the cancer had spread and he was told it was no longer curable.

In January 2013, Stephen, who was a straight-A student who had hoped to study medicine at university, drew up a bucket list of things he wanted to achieve before he died.

Top of the list was to raise £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Knowing he did not have long left, he dropped out of school to concentrate on fundraising.

His efforts were so successful that he soon increased his target to £1 million.

Then, on April 20 this year, he was rushed to hospital with breathing problems after one of his lungs collapsed.

The heartbreaking explanation of Stephen's Story

Stephen was diagnosed with bowel cancer when he was just 15 years old after doctors told him he was suffering constipation

Stephen and his mother Jane pictured outside Number 10 Downing Street. As part of his bucket list the teenager wanted to have a go at public speaking and achieved his goal giving a moving speech for The Liam Fairhurst Foundation in July last year

Believing he had just days to live, he urged people to help him reach his £1million target before he died.

Writing what he believed to be his last Facebook post he said:  ‘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 too. 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 (justgiving.com/stephen-sutton-TCT
is the link to donate to).

‘All future updates on this page will probably be from a family member. I hopefully may have the energy to write a few tweets (@_StephensStory).

‘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.

Stephen (pictured with comedian Jimmy Carr) received the letters of support despite many just being addressed to 'Stephen Sutton, Burntwood, England'

Stephen drew up a bucket list when he was told his cancer was terminal which included skydiving. He managed to tick off 36 of the 46 tasks on the list, including raising money for charity

‘Thank you to my mum and the rest of my family for everything. Thank you to my friends for being amazing.

'Thank you to my medical team for the hard work and effort they've continually put towards me. And thank you everyone else for sharing this wonderful journey with me.’

After he posted this message, donations and support started to flood in and he had soon passed his £1 million target.

He was also sent messages of support by celebrities from Piers Morgan to Sir Chris Hoy and Russell Brand.

Stephen was a straight-A student who had hoped to study medicine at university

To his surprise, Stephen’s condition improved after he ‘coughed up a tumour’ and he was briefly discharged from hospital.

But, on Sunday he was readmitted to hospital after his condition deteriorated because tumours were blocking his airway.

In his final Facebook message he wrote: ‘Unfortunately today I've ended up back in hospital!

‘I had some breathing difficulties starting last night and after going to A and E have been admitted back to a ward for monitoring.

‘I've still got the cough, then quite quickly developed a wheeze in my breathing and breathlessness upon any physical exertion.

‘There's no immediate panic and I'm currently quite stable- I have been put on nebulisers and other meds which are currently helping my symptoms hugely.

‘The doctors think there may be something restricting my airway again, they're not sure exactly what yet though (tumour regrowth, infection, inflammation, etc are all potential reasons mentioned), but are currently discussing the possibilities and my scan results to decide what to do next.

‘The whole thing is very inconvenient aha. I had a few cool things planned to attend today, then tomorrow was due to appear on the telly on BBC Breakfast News!

‘I understand my health is the obvious priority though and have had to cancel. Fingers crossed the issue will be resolved and that I'll be out of hospital soon, I'll keep you all updated with how I'm getting on.’

DM