The Resilience Sessions - Vick Hope and Shaun Stocker BEM

The Resilience Sessions is a podcast series featuring compelling in-depth interviews, which bring to light life-changing and affirming experiences of Blesma veterans and the unknown personal struggles of celebrity guests who have fought to overcome hardship, including mental health difficulties, disability, devastating injury and bereavement.

This podcast series is created in association with The Drive Project, who work with Blesma to deliver Making Generation R. We have already helped over 50,000 young people and first responders through the Making Generation R campaign and have seen first-hand the positive impact these stories have on those who are struggling.

We hope that this podcast series will also provide moments of inspiration and strength to listeners. In this episode radio and television presenter Vick Hope talks with Shaun Stocker BEM, who was serving with the British Army in Afghanistan when he stepped on an IED at the age of just 19.

Vick and Shaun discuss their upbringings, families and how both went abroad at the age of 19 to have experiences that would change their lives in very different ways. Vick speaks about growing up mixed-race in Newcastle, of getting into Cambridge University, and why she has been motivated to pursue humanitarian causes. Shaun shares the moments leading up to his injury, speaks of the long road to recovery afterwards, and how he now uses his experience to give back to others in multiple ways. Both agree on the importance of talking, of sharing problems openly, and using their platforms for good.