A British darts star has said he was told to ‘rest or die’ by doctors after he was hospitalised with a life-threatening blood clot and was forced to put his career on hold
Darts star Matt Clark has revealed he was told to ‘rest or die’ after being hospitalised with a life-threatening blood clot.
The Dartford-born arrowsmith, 57, was forced to abandon the World Seniors Tour after being told his life was in danger if he failed to change his daily routine. Clark, who held a PDC Tour Card between 2003 and 2017, and 2019 and 2022, saw his career-best run to the last 32 in the World Championships in 2006 ended by Phil Taylor. After losing his Tour Card, ‘Superman’ joined the WDF.
Speaking about his health scare, Clark said: “Midway through the seniors tour, I got a life-threatening blood clot in a not very pleasant place.
“When you are literally sat in front of a doctor and they say, ‘If you do anything and that moves, you’re dead’, it kind of gives you a new perspective on life.
“They said, ‘You cannot go to work. If we don’t get that under control, you’re either going to have a brain haemorrhage or a heart attack. It’s as simple as that’.”
Clark continued to recall his battle in an interview with the Tungsten Tales podcast. “The TV events that I qualified for, for the seniors tour, I was getting hospital treatment for.
“I kept it quiet because you can’t use that to make excuses. It was palmed off that I had a bad leg at the time. We’ll go with that.
“The start of the WDF season I was under hospital guidance and I wasn’t allowed to travel or fly. So I actually only started playing when I was discharged from hospital in February this year.
“I’ve still got issues I’m dealing with but that’s just a matter of time. Unfortunately, my back has gone now. It’s slightly wonky but I’ll deal with that. My back brace is working a treat.”
Incredibly, Clark made his return to the WDF World Championship as the No.7 seed and will take on Belgium’s Francois Schweyen in the last 16.
Clark won the 1999 Canadian Open and reached the quarter-final of the 2008 World Matchplay in his best run in a PDC major tournament.
‘Superman’ was beaten 16-12 by James Wade, who went on to be the eventual runner-up, losing to ‘The Power’ in the Blackpool final.