Stephen Sutton, 19, was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 15. When he was 17, he learned it was terminal.
That's when he made a bucket list. Sutton dreamed up 46 experiences to complete in the short years he had left, from "hugging an animal bigger than me" to crowd-surfing.
But the greatest task he set out to accomplish was raise one million pounds for a charity called the Teenage Cancer Trust. (Sutton's original goal was 10,000 pounds, but he upped the goal last year after achieving the amount.)
On Tuesday, Sutton posted a message to his Facebook page as a "final thumbs up," saying goodbye and thanking everyone from family members to his medical team. He also asked that people continue to support his fundraiser, which had yet to reach the million-pound goal.
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Post by Stephen's story.
Hours after Sutton's message, donations began pouring in. "Stephen's Story" also began trending on Twitter and Facebook. At time of writing, the fundraiser has raised almost 1.4 million pounds ($2,349,340 U.S. dollars) with more than 53,000 donators.
Sutton reacted to to the news via tweets sent late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Tonight's show of love and support epitomises how great people can be— Stephen's Story (@_StephensStory) April 22, 2014
The world is a truly wonderful place— Stephen's Story (@_StephensStory) April 22, 2014
The whole situation is just breathtaking in many ways!!— Stephen's Story (@_StephensStory) April 23, 2014
But seriously... Wow. Just wow. Thank you all so much :)— Stephen's Story (@_StephensStory) April 23, 2014
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