Brandon Payner exceeded his goal to collect 100,000 business cards many times over, earning his place in the Guinness World Book of Records before his death on Christmas Eve.

The 10-year-old had been battling cancer since age two and died in a specialized clinic in Phoenix, Ariz., after a failed bone marrow transplant.

Brandon received worldwide support in his quest, receiving cards from many different countries as word spread in this age of instantaneous connection. He collected 900,000 business cards.

It is estimated that more than 1,500 came from Pahrump from several enthusiastic collectors who went from business to business gathering them. The family is no longer collecting cards.

Former presidential hopeful Al Gore sent Brandon a business card and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman visited the boy in the hospital at least twice, bringing a bevy of costumed show girls with him on the second visit after being requested to do so by Brandon.

According to family friend Hannah Fox of Las Vegas, Brandon reacted like a typical pubescent boy when the scantily clad beauties arrived. "He was staring at them like a deer in the headlights," she recalled.

"Everyone who met him was touched by him in some way," Fox said. Her older son is a cancer survivor and her second boy is the same age as Brandon. "The boys met when my younger son was in the hospital being treated with chemotherapy for a rare form of arthritis," said Fox. "They played video games together and became great friends."

Toward the end, Fox said Brandon's lungs gave out. "They had him on a machine. He was able to talk to his family as much as he could but eventually he wasn't awake."

Even so, his parents, Jo and Mo Rayner, watched Brandon's favorite television shows with him, held his hand and read to him until he passed away on Christmas Eve.

According to Fox, the paperwork had already been completed for the Guinness World Book of Records and Brandon's accomplishment should be in the 2010 edition.

Fox said she knew he would accomplish his goal. "The first words out of his mouth when I met him were 'Hey, have you got any business cards?' He was an amazing little valiant warrior," Fox said.

Private services for Brandon are planned for Las Vegas, where his parents live with his older brother and sister.