On the 11th May Sophie Stokes our restaurant supervisor will be running the Bristol Half Marathon for Blood Cancer UK.

Each year around 40,000 people are diagnosed with a blood cancer in the UK, and about 280,000 people are currently living with blood cancer. Blood cancer is a type of cancer that affects your blood cells with leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma being the most common type of blood cancer.

Sophie will be running in memory of her former hockey coach whilst she was at University called Ben Dudley who lost his battle to blood cancer two years ago this April. He was a true inspiration to all and really was a role model to others. He always put himself first and always wanted to help people. It was never about it him it was always about everyone else even at the toughest points of his treatments. His dedication and love for hockey never went unnoticed often escaping hospital to come to training and games. He was the biggest cheerleader on the side of the pitch. A true gentlemen and badger of the game.

Personally. Without Ben, Sophie feels she would not be back playing hockey full stop. He supported her through a really rough patch of her life where she was told she probably would never play competitive hockey again. Ben did everything in his power to help her get back to hockey. When he found out about her injury and diagnosis of bilateral hip dysplasia during her A Levels and her interest to come to the University of Bristol he drove to her home hockey club to watch her last game before surgery to see how he could support her back to being able to play hockey again. He offered her the role of 1st XI Manager in her first year of university to help her feel more connected to the team and to keep her occupied during her lengthy rehab period of around 15 months. He also paid over £450 to help support Sophie access a private sports physio so she could get back sooner but also stronger than before. Sophie will always remember his reaction to when she stepped on the pitch for the first time in a Bristol shirt and his overwhelming joy will be a memory she treasures for ever. Ben helped her to see the positives in her rehab, through the good and the bad times. He is truly one a kind person and is thoroughly missed by a lot of people.

Ben had a huge impact on my life and I miss him lots and therefore I am running the Bristol half marathon in his memory and raising money for blood cancer UK so one day we can find a cure for this horrible illness. I would appreciate any donations no matter how big or how small ❤️.

“Don’t be sad it’s over, smile because it happened” Ben Dudley 2023