Stephen Sutton's mother on 'seizing every minute' to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to continue his fundraising legacy

The mother of the teenage charity fundraiser Stephen Sutton is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to continue her son's legacy of fundraising.

Stephen died in May 2014 at the age of 19, having been diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 15.

Jane Sutton told ITV News she decided to undertake the challenge of climbing the tallest mountain in Africa, because her son had taught her to "seize every minute".

She had been looking for a new challenge after completing London Marathon.

"After seeing the amazing support from everyone, I just decided that I need to take on another challenge.

"As much as anything to continue Stephen's legacy but also to continue raising the profile of Teenage Cancer Trust."

But Mrs Sutton said she was not quite sure what her challenge would be until a chance conversation with a woman who was also planning to climb Kilimanjaro.

Mrs Sutton is hoping to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro on October 9.

• 'My journey has begun'

On Monday morning, Mrs Sutton posted a short video update on Facebook as she arrived at Birmingham Airport to set off on her journey.

• Stephen's story

Stephen's story caught the imagination of the general public after his "bucket list" campaign to raise £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust went viral.

Due to the generosity of donations from people around the world, touched by his optimism and good humour, Stephen raised more than £5m for the charity.

Such was his inspirational impact, Stephen's passing was one of the most searched-for high profile deaths on Google UK that year.

On the first anniversary of his death, celebrities joined friends and family in [**online campaigns**](http://One year on: Campaigns honour memory of Stephen Sutton) urging people to post a #hugforstephen picture to Twitter and donate £2 charity.