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Alice Pyne
Alice Pyne in Downing Street, where she met David Cameron last year. Photograph: Rex Features
Alice Pyne in Downing Street, where she met David Cameron last year. Photograph: Rex Features

'Bucket list' teenager Alice Pyne dies after battle with cancer

This article is more than 11 years old
Seventeen-year-old became famous after writing blog with a wish list of things to do before she died

A teenager who gained nationwide fame after writing a "bucket list" of dreams to do before she died, has lost her battle with cancer.

Alice Pyne, 17, from Ulverston, Cumbria, managed to complete most of her list, which became an internet sensation after writing about her wishes on an online blog telling of her cancer fight.

Alice was feted by celebrities and politicians as the nation rallied to help fulfil her dreams.

The teenager, who lived with her parents, Simon and Vicky, and younger sister, Milly, achieved many of her wishes, including going whale watching and meeting Take That before she died on Saturday, after battling the illness for the past six years.

In a post on her blog, her mother Vicky gave the sad news. "Our darling girl, Alice, gained her angel wings today. She passed away peacefully with Simon, Milly and myself by her side. We are devastated and know that our lives will never again be the same."

Tributes to Alice flooded into the website, while comedian David Walliams also posted on his Twitter page: "I am so sad about the passing of Alice-Pyne, who I met through the Pride of Britain Awards. What a beautiful and courageous girl. x".

She started the blog in 2011 telling how hospital scans showed Hodgkin's lymphoma – a cancer of the white blood cells – was spreading through her body and that her mother had encouraged her to create a wish list. It led to a flood of offers as her webpage became an internet hit with Twitter followers worldwide.

She had been campaigning to increase bone marrow donation in the UK and last year received the British Empire Medal for services to charity after raising more than £100,000. She also won the Pride of Britain Teenager of Courage award in 2012.

On her bucket list, Alice wrote that she hoped that everyone in the UK would sign up as a bone marrow donor.

Other wishes ticked off on her bucket list included a visit to Cadbury World, staying in the Chocolate room at Alton Towers, entering her beloved Labrador dog, Mabel, in a dog show and to go to her school leavers prom.

This article was amended on 14 January 2013 to remove a reference to Alice Pyne receiving a Children of Courage award in 2007. That was her sister, Milly Pyne. Alice won the Pride of Britain Teenager of Courage award in 2012.

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