Sutton snooker player who was told he'd never play again overcomes illness to become a European Champion

Dave Bolton, 49, saw his whole life change in September 2022 when he was diagnosed with ischemic bowel syndrome and underwent life changing surgery and ended up in a coma.

Dave’s wife, Michelle, said: “He now has just 60cm of intestines remaining which means he can not get any nourishment from any food or drink at all.

“He is limited to 550ml of fluid a day and for his mental state he is allowed to comfort eat, which is very small portion sizes, which he does find very hard at times as he loved his food and drink.

“To do too much now makes him dehydrated and fatigued which can be very dangerous as he can't replace what he loses through eating and drinking like we can, so excessive, and even laying in the sun too long can create problems.”

Following his surgery and coma Dave was told that he might never play snooker again.

Michelle said: “When he came out of the coma he did find it very hard and needed counselling for a while until he could come to terms with the extent of the surgery that he had and the new life that he would have to now live as a disabled person.

“He has always been a very confident person but this knocked him for six, so when he was put onto seeing if he was eligible to play on the WDBS tour (World Disability Billiards and Snooker) in 2023, after being told he would not play again, has just been remarkable, not only for his mental state of mind but also to keep him away from how he once felt.

“During the last year Dave has played in nine world snooker events in the WDBS snooker tour and has won all nine, including the highest break.

“Last December he also represented Great Britain in Thailand and he has just been named a winner at the European Disability Snooker Championship in Portugal.”