Stephen Sutton was diagnosed with bowel cancer when he was 15 and was told two years later by his doctors that his cancer was incurable.
Sutton died peacefully in his sleep on May 14 at the age of 19. More than 7,000 people have attended an ongoing vigil in a cathedral in Staffordshire, where his coffin is lying.
In Jan. 2013, Sutton learned that cancer had spread to his bowel, knee, groin and pelvis. Upon learning his fate, the young man made a list of 46 things he wanted accomplish before he died.
READ MORE: U.K. cancer charity fundraiser teen Stephen Sutton dies
One of those goals included raising CDN $18,500 for U.K.’s Teenage Cancer Trust. As his message—and mission—went viral, Sutton raised over $5.86 million for charity before he passed away.
As of Thursday, his charity fund exceeded $7.24 million.
In a photo posted on Facebook back on April 20, Sutton is seen with what he called was his “final thumbs up.”
Many continued to show their outpouring of support for Sutton and have flooded social media with their own messages, and thumbs-up photos, celebrating the life of the cancer fundraiser.
A call was made on social media Friday to send the coordinated messages at 11:00 BST.
According to Twitter, more than 11,000 tweets were posted in an hour containing the #ThumbsUpForStephen hashtag.
A final public farewell and private burial were held Friday.
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