The family of Burntwood teenager Stephen Sutton have thanked people for helping to arrange the “massive celebration” of his life.

Stephen Sutton
Stephen Sutton

His mother Jane took to the Stephen’s Story Facebook page following the recent vigil for the Burntwood teenager at Lichfield Cathedral.

The 19-year-old lost his battle with cancer last month after raising more than £4million for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Hundreds turned out to pay their last respects at the Cathedral, while thousands of yellow ribbons appeared around Lichfield and Burntwood in memory of Stephen.

“Ste’s wishes were for a massive celebration, and he certainly got that,” Jane said. “Everyone involved did him proud.

“The vigil at the cathedral took lots of planning, but it was amazing what was achieved in a relatively short period of time.

“A special mention too for all the planned little touches over the two days, from the yellow plumes on the horses, to the yellow ribbons adorning everything you could possibly think of, and even the unplanned ones, the balloons forming a heart in the sky was truly special.”

Jane said that she would be continuing to keep Stephen’s Facebook page updated.

“It’s been a very hectic few weeks since Stephen’s vigil and I haven’t had much opportunity to update this page,” she explained. “However this is my attempt at getting organised.

“Stephen always used to tell me that I needed to create a ‘to-do’ list, in fact one of my Mother’s Day presents from him was a note book to encourage me to do just that. It’s very small and would be full up already had I attempted to write my list in it – it’s a very long one, Stephen certainly left me with a lot to do.

“I’m going to continue updating this page, so that everyone is aware of all the fundraising events that are continuing in Stephen’s name.”

Jane also revealed that she had received numerous letters of support from around the world – even though many did not have an address on them.

“There were cards and letters from well-wishers, many of whom I don’t know personally, but who were so touched by Stephen’s Story they felt compelled to write to me,” she said. “I’ve received over 200 cards and letters, there aren’t enough surfaces in the house to display them all on!

“And on the subject of cards, top marks to Royal Mail, as three quarters of the post received had no address, yet still found their way through my letterbox.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.