Every now and then life springs surprises. For me last week, it was seeing Stephen Sutton’s beaming smile and thumbs-up from his hospital bed as he celebrated raising
almost £3 million for Teenage Cancer Trust.
Stephen is 19 years old and has terminal cancer. But he has refused to let that define him. Instead, this brave lad set himself a series of challenges since his diagnosis of bowel cancer four years ago.
Stephen made a ‘bucket list’ of things he wanted to do. They included hugging an elephant, getting a tattoo, skydiving, playing the drums in front of a big crowd, bungee jumping, learning to juggle, seeing a football match at Wembley, going on a lads’ holiday, busking and bringing out a joke book of ‘tumour humour‘ to help cancer patients smile.
Top of the list of the 46 things he wanted to do was to raise £10,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust.
And the response to his Facebook, Twitter and blog updates was so enthusiastic that he abandoned some of his personal plans to concentrate on fundraising.
And, astonishingly, he has raised almost £3 million for cancer-stricken teenagers.
Last week, he thanked everyone who supported him with a “wow, just wow” message from hospital and indicated he is losing his own battle with cancer.
Typical of Stephen’s jaunty humour, he signed off with: “That’s it from me. Enjoy life.”
What a guy.
It would have been so easy to feel ‘poor me’ when he got the news that time was running out. But self-pity isn’t in Stephen Sutton’s nature. Instead, he was determined
to make every minute count and to use his situation to inspire others to help cancer-stricken teenagers.
His parents must be so proud of him.
Whenever people moan about the dangers of social media, they should remember it can also be a powerful tool for good in our world. It can bring people together. It can connect us to something a bit more important than our own little worries and concerns.
Despite all the doom-and-gloom stories about selfish teenagers there are many who want to make this planet a little bit brighter and better. There are young people who go and help at food banks and deliver food to housebound pensioners.
There’s a young lad who sets himself the task of doing one random act of kindness every day. There are schoolchildren who go and help dig wells and serve Mary’s Meals in Malawi. There are teenagers helping disabled children learn sport.
And they do it with energy and commitment. They are our hope for the future.
And when we come across one like Stephen Sutton, all we can do is echo his words and say: “Wow, just wow.”
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