Queensland police announced on Tuesday afternoon local time that Thomas Jackson died in Townsville hospital in the state’s north, where he was being treated following the August 23 attack.
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Police say they will upgrade an attempted murder charge against Frenchman Smail Ayad to murder at his next court appearance in Townsville on October 28.
Mr Jackson suffered critical head injuries as he went to her aid and police described his actions as “selfless”.
“That thought will sustain us over the coming days”.
He bravely stepped in after aspiring model Miss Ayliffe-Chung, 21, was dragged out of bed by Smail Ayad, 29, at the dormitory they shared in an Australian hostel while working at a remote farm.
She urged people not to remember him as a victim but as a friend and to cherish his memory, adding: “Indescribably proud of everything you accomplished and the lives you touched. I love you buddy”.
His father Les Jackson, from Congleton, issued a statement also praising the work of medical staff at Townsville Hospital in Queensland, where his son is being treated.
He wrote: “We are bereft”.
Mr Jackson fought for life for nearly a week after French backpacker Smail Ayad allegedly attacked him during a stabbing spree at Home Hill Backpackers, about 100 kilometres south of Townsville.
Ayad is said by witnesses to have shouted “Allahu akbar” (“God is greatest”) during the attack.
A YouCaring fundraising page to help Mr Jackson’s parents had yesterday raised nearly £7,000.
Writing in a blog on Monday for The Independent, her mother, Rosie Aycliffe, said: “At the moment the only way I can really cope with our loss is to think Mia’s time had come and what happened in that hostel on Tuesday was her fate”.
“After talking about the misrepresentation of Mia’s death in the media as an act of terrorism on the part of an Islamic fundamentalist, the minister delivering the service suggested we include a Koranic reading, and he will find something suitable with a friend who is an Islamic scholar”.
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Ryan Fisher, who was friends with Mr Jackson on Facebook, wrote: “You always wanted to be a journalist, and here you are in the headlines”.
