And despite his tragic circumstances, the 19-year-old was over the moon with being considered.
On Tuesday, his mother Jane Sutton visited Buckingham Palace to receive the posthumous Member of the Order of the British Empire award on behalf of her son, calling the moment 'bittersweet.'
Stephen passed away in May after a four-year-long battle with bowel cancer.
Turning his tragedy into activism, Stephen spent his final years blogging about his journey and drawing up a bucket list that included raising £100,000 for charity.
By the time of his death he had achieved a whopping £5 million in the name of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Being included on the Queen's Birthday Honours list for all his hard work left 'a big smile on his face', mum Jane reported.
"He knew how important this was and how high an honour this was.
"When he found out about it he did use the word awesome, he thought it was awesome."
For Jane, it is a time of pride that is tinged with sadness: "I'm feeling so proud to be collecting the award on behalf of Stephen but obviously wish he had been here to collect it himself."
CANCER PATIENT HAS TO PAY 2K A WEEK FOR TREATMENT: 'NHS PAYS FOR BOOB JOBS BUT WON'T SAVE MY LIFE'
Next week, Stephen will be receiving an honorary doctorate of science from Coventry University, while the Teenage Cancer Trust announced that £1.2 million of the funds Stephen raised would be set aside for 50 university scholarships, dedicated to the training in cancer care.