As long as he was able to draw breath, this ‘awesome’ (his favourite word) young man was determined to help others and ‘do as much good as I can’.
‘I genuinely enjoy the feeling of making a positive different to others,’ he told me a few days ago, in what would be his final interview. ‘The best way to help yourself is to help others, isn’t it?’We didn’t know then that the interview with Stephen, published in Monday’s newspaper, would be one of his last acts of goodness, daily mail reports.
Stephen, you see, wanted nothing more than to raise more funds for his nominated charity, the Teenage Cancer Trust. He hoped by speaking publicly he would encourage others to donate.By the time dailymail interviewed him, even speaking was a painful, drawn-out process. Stephen was on morphine for the last week of his life to try to manage his dreadful pain.
He had tumours in his calf, his knee, his groin, his pelvis, his chest wall and his airway.
The latter tumour was of particular concern. He was suffering throughout the hour-and-a-half we spoke with a rasping cough.
Such, though, was this 19-year-old’s astonishing determination to tell his story, that whenever I asked if he’d like to rest, he refused.
‘I’m relatively healthy on the whole. I’ve a few breathing difficulties which is probably a hangover from what happened a few weeks ago.
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| Stephen with Frank Lampard |
Hopefully that should clear up. So, it’s hard to put a time on how long I’ve got. If we’re really lucky months,’ he said, with the sort of cheerfulness most of those his age would discuss the length of their gap year travel plans.
‘I just want to get on with as many projects as I can and focus on the fundraising,’ he added.
It was impossible not to be profoundly moved by Stephen, who captured our hearts and minds when he posted a final thumbs up farewell on Facebook believing himself to ‘be a goner’, particularly as the mother of a 17-year-old boy whose future – university, a career, a happy marriage – I take for granted.
Like Stephen was, he is sporty. Like Stephen was, he is ambitious. Like Stephen was, he is a very much-loved son. Goodness only knows how Stephen’s mother Jane is coping today.
I know they cared for one another deeply. Indeed, Stephen understood that it took a selfless mother not to ‘wrap me in cotton wool, but let me get on and do the things I’ve managed to do despite my illness’.
How she must have railed ten days ago when despicable internet trolls attacked her son within days of his being discharged from hospital on May 2, claiming they’d been ‘duped’ by his temporary reprieve and asking for their money back.
Stephen dealt with this appalling reflection of the savagery of social media with mature equanimity.
‘Like I say, cancer sucks and life’s great, but life isn’t perfect. On the whole the love and support I received from the four corners of the world swamped the badness,’ he said, before adding with such poignant bewilderment I wanted to give him a huge hug: ‘It’s funny, perhaps I’d be worth more if I died to some people.’
Today I hope those reprehensible trolls hang their heads in shame. This young man achieved more in the 18 months since he was diagnosed with incurable cancer than many of us will in a lifetime.
Indeed, in my years writing for this newspaper I’ve interviewed many exceptional people, but never have I felt quite as humbled as I was by this thoroughly decent young man.
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| Stephen's inspirational story also caught the attention of David Cameron, who visited him in hospital |
Even when he revealed ‘his anger’ over his cancer being shamefully misdiagnosed by doctors as constipation for six crucial months he shrugged and said: ‘But even with saying that, I’m not one to dwell on the past. It is what it is.’
And, when I asked how he endured the often excruciating treatment without ever throwing in the towel, he explained: ‘It’s a kind of investment.
'You go through that much pain or that much treatment because, at the end of the day, it’s going to give you so much extra life and the extra life is definitely worth it. Life is brilliant.’
He quite simply blew me away. Just this week 70-year-old Cilla Black talked of wanting to die at 75, while TV presenters Richard and Judy revealed they had agreed to help each other die if they became ill.
They spoke of death with the casual arrogance of those who have enjoyed long, healthy lives – something Stephen was sadly denied.
But while they might be looking forward to death, Stephen showed us all how to live.
He was, you see, the absolute antithesis of the ‘me, me, me’ celebrity culture that volubly embraced his campaign, particularly those who began tweeting like crows when his sad death was announced yesterday by his mum.
Stephen was utterly altruistic. There was no attention-seeking agenda. Every single penny of the more than £3.2million he raised went straight to his nominated charity.
Written By Rebecca Hardy For Dailymail.
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