The picture that sparked the rush of donations to Stephen Sutton's fundraising drive

Burntwood teenager Stephen Sutton has insisted he’s “still here and still fighting” as he battles incurable cancer.

The 19-year-old has made headlines around the world after a fundraising drive in his name reached the £1.6million mark.

He had previously written what he believed would be his final post on Facebook.

Stephen Sutton
Stephen Sutton

But he has now told supporters that his health has stabilised.

“Throughout the whole journey I’ve been realistic about my position and at my last post I genuinely thought I was a goner,” he said. “But hey, I’m still here.

“Sunday morning my right lung collapsed. I had a full emergency team surrounding me and in all honesty was probably not too far from nearly leaving you all.

“I survived, but the following day I woke up and felt very weak – the worry was that whatever was left of my health would just continue to deteriorate.

“However, from that point on my recovery has been positive and quite unexpected.

“One doctor while seeing me even said how my medical notes and how I was actually doing didn’t quite seem to match up. The progress since has continued to be good but steady.”

Despite the recovery, Stephen said he would now be forced to take things “day by day”.

He said: “I am still in a very vulnerable position.

“I am very limited in what I can do and am still permanently hooked up to oxygen. But I am in high spirits and blessed to have so much love and support around me.

“To get to see the million pound fundraising target being reached was just phenomenal.

“The plan is to take things day by day. Just keep on keeping on like I always have.

“I will try and update when I can, but my health and staying alive is obviously my main priority at the moment.

“The battle is physically and mentally very demanding, but I am happy – and that’s the main thing.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.