Meydan pays tribute to Dave Hodgson, a 'source of inspiration'

The Meydan race course has paid tribute to Dave Hodgson, the executive who died after a brave battle with cancer that he shared with his followers on Twitter.

DUBAI // The company that employed Dave Hodgson, the racecourse executive who died at the weekend following a brave battle against cancer, has paid tribute to his courage.

Mr Hodgson, 41, worked as the corporate communications director at the Meydan racecourse. He won widespread admiration for a moving account on Twitter of his fight against a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Meydan Group said: "The management and staff of Meydan are saddened by the loss of Dave Hodgson. His battle with cancer serves as a great source of inspiration to us all. We extend our deepest sympathy, thoughts and prayers to his wife and daughter."

His wife, Natalie, announced his death on New Year's Eve on Twitter. The couple's daughter, Olivia, is seven.

Tributes to Mr Hodgson, who moved to Dubai from the UK in 2009, have continued to pour in to the social networking site.

Fellow cancer patient Charlie Withers, from Berkshire in England, tweeted: "RIP @Dave_Hodgson. I never met you, but our tweet chats whilst on chemo helped a lot. I shall miss my tweeting cancer buddy."

Christine O'Reilly, who tweets under the name @ADreamerHasHope, wrote a poem called In Memory of Dave Hodgson.