Stephen Sutton reaches £1m cancer charity target

A teenage blogger with terminal cancer has raised £1m for charity and posted a final message to his followers.

Stephen Sutton, 19, from Burntwood, in Staffordshire, was diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 15 and started raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

On Tuesday, he posted on Facebook: "It's a final thumbs up from me! I think this is just one hurdle too far."

Reacting to news that the total had passed £1m, Stephen tweeted "thank you all so much".

"The whole situation is just breathtaking in many ways!!" he added.

Dozens of people responded with their congratulations, including one who described Stephen as a "true inspiration", while another said he had "changed thousands of people's lives".

A day earlier he told his thousands of friends and followers on Facebook that it would be his last post and any further updates would be from family members.

He wrote: "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.

"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 used a bucket list featuring things he wanted to accomplish before he died to help raise funds

Tuesday's messages prompted people to pledge more than £250,000 overnight with a further £200,000 coming in on Wednesday morning.

Comedian Jason Manford was among a number of celebrities who supported Stephen's fundraising over recent months.

He described the 19-year-old as "inspirational".

"He told me it was terminal [cancer]. You would think he would be depressed by it," Mr Manford said.

"He's not bitter about leaving the party early, he's just happy that he was invited to the party at all.

"At the age of 19 he's done more in the past few years than some people do in a lifetime."

Stephen used a bucket list featuring things he wanted to accomplish before he died to help raise funds and give other people the motivation to "enjoy life".

It included playing the drums in front of 90,000 people, hugging an elephant and getting a tattoo.