Darts professional Ryan Searle has reached a career pinnacle by qualifying for his first-ever World Darts Championship semi-final at Alexandra Palace, a feat made even more extraordinary by his ongoing battle with a rare genetic eye condition.
Facing the Champion with Impaired Vision
The 38-year-old, known as 'Heavy Metal', is set to face world number one and reigning champion Luke Littler on Friday evening. Searle has powered through the tournament's earlier rounds without conceding a single set, showcasing remarkable skill and resilience. His opponent, Littler, has also shared his own visual challenges, having undergone childhood surgery for strabismus, commonly known as a cross-eye.
Living with Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy
Searle lives with Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy (ADOA), a condition that causes the optic nerve to thin progressively, leading to irreversible sight loss in both eyes. There is currently no cure. "It was only in the last 18 months that I realised what the diagnosis was," Searle explained this week. "It's been bad for as long as I can remember. There's no cure for what I've got so I'm stuck with it."
To manage, he wears contact lenses to reduce blurriness, but the impairment still affects his game. "Sometimes on stage I'm asking the caller what I've scored and it puts me in a bit of a difficult position," he admitted. Despite this, his performance has been dominant, proving his exceptional ability to adapt.
A Personal Mission for Awareness and a Cure
The condition is deeply personal for Searle, a former window cleaner from Devon. He has passed ADOA on to his children; his son is less affected, but his daughter is registered as visually impaired. "When it gets to about six feet, she can see, but after that her vision gets really bad," he said.
Driven by his family's experience, Searle has launched a charitable initiative. He asks opponents to donate shirts, which are then raffled off to raise funds for the Cure ADOA Foundation. "If I can raise a lot of awareness for that and try and find a cure for it, that means a lot to me," he stated. He also hopes his story inspires others: "If I can inspire people that maybe can't see as well to pick up the game, then it means a lot to me."
As the darts world focuses on the high-stakes semi-final clash, Searle's journey to the Alexandra Palace stage stands as a powerful testament to determination in the face of significant personal adversity.
