James Wade feared the worst when he was rushed to hospital in Germany earlier this month.
But he will return to the Fatherland for next month's Cazoo Premier League play-off finals insisting: “I'm winning in life – and I've got a lot more titles to win.” The 'Machine' was taken ill at the European Open in Leverkusen three weeks ago, and paramedics were scrambled when he complained of heart palpitations, dizziness and waves of nausea.
Wade was detained in hospital for exhaustive tests while his wife Sammi – the glamorous walk-on girl he married seven years ago – waited anxiously at home in Aldershot for updates.
The couple are expecting their second child in August, and Wade said: “I'm feeling good and I'm ready to get back into darts after a little warning to slow down and live a bit more healthily.
“It could have been something really, really nasty and bad, but it was my body giving me a warning shot to slow down. If you'd listened to some of the things being thrown about, I might not have been here in a couple of months, but it's ended up being a positive.
“I'm going to try and lose some weight and get fitter – I'm nearly 40 and you can't keep doing what you did in your 20s and 30s and get away with it.
“When I was in hospital, one of the first thoughts running through my mind, if it was potentially that bad, was: 'Am I going to going to get to see my unborn child?'
“All that stuff goes through your head and it amplifies what you need to do, and gives you a real kick up the backside, what you need to do to sort yourself out.
“My experience in Germany when I wasn't very well was amazing: the healthcare and the people were absolutely brilliant – a lot of good things came from such a bad situation.
“I've been saying I was going to lose weight for three or four years and I haven't done anything about it. I've just bumbled along, but now I've started to process what I need to do.
“I'm already feeling much better, far more awake, far more energy, just by changing my eating patterns. The first two weeks, and sticking to it, is the hardest part. About three years ago, I lost weight – but as soon as I hit my target weight, I went out and had a fry-up. I need to continue on the path this time.
“I've got a lot to live for – a beautiful wife, a lovely son, another baby on the way, so many good things to be around for, and I count myself one of the luckiest darts players because I've got so much going for me.
“I hope I can continue to have the same outlook as I have at the moment. If I forget it, I'll have to make sure I find a way to remind myself of how bad things could have been.”
Only Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen have won more than Wade's 11 TV majors in darts history, and Wade believes there are more “left in the tank.”
He warned: “I've never reached what I know I'm capable of, but I've won the Premier League once, back in 2009, and it's only certain other people who don't think I can do it again.
“Ten years ago Phil (Taylor) had to play out of his skin to beat me when he hit those two nine-darters in the Premier League final. I like to think it's a testament to my ability, stubbornness and me being pig-headed, but I know I've still got my best stuff to come.
“I've been proving people wrong for 10 to 15 years I will continue to do it for as long as I want to do it.”
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