I was a World Darts Championship finalist as 1,000-1 outsider – but now work as an electrician after crippling dartitis
Share:
KIRK SHEPERD once reached the World Darts Championship as a 1,000-1 outsider. But he is now working as an electrician after suffering from crippling dartitis. Sheperd, 38, looked to have the world at his feet when he made the grand stage at Ally Pally back in 2008.
![[Kirk Sheperd is a former World Darts Championship finalist who is now an electrician]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ladbrokes-com-pdc-world-darts-498498.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The ace was making just £5.25 an hour as a sheet metal factory worker when he realised his greatest dream. Sheperd averaged 89.70 as he defeated Terry Jenkins, Peter Manley and Wayne Mardle. His incredible run ended in the final as he lost 7-2 to John Part.
![[He spiralled out of control drinking and gambling before suffering dartitis]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/21e843c5-90cd-4953-b11b-df917d46a0c8.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
But that still didn’t stop Sheperd from becoming a new darts hero. “What kept me going was being the underdog – I was riding the wave, I went up on that stage fearless and relaxed because I had nothing to lose, and I didn’t want it to end. “But I went from being a normal lad working in a factory to back-page headlines and a nice big pay cheque.”.
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS. However, Sheperd freely admits that with fame and fortune came a new reckless lifestyle. He added: “After that, the devil came for me. I went a bit doo-lally and got carried away by it all. READ MORE on all the build-up to the Ally Pally extravaganza...
All the info:. News, features and interviews:. “I went through a crazy phase because I had suddenly come into all this fame and didn’t know how to deal with it. “I’d gone from nowhere to a big final, without reaching the last 16 or quarters of other competitions along the way, and I had nothing to fall back on by way of experience.
