Heartwarming reason why Paddy Power will blur out logo for PDC World Darts Championship semi-finals

Fans tuning into Friday’s semi-finals at the World Darts Championship will notice something different about the Paddy Power logo.

But it turns out there is a perfectly good reason why.

Getty

Paddy Power announced they would blur their logo for Friday’s action on the 180 signs held by fans, digital signage around the Alexandra Palace as well as on the tables on stage to highlight Ryan Searle’s eye condition.

What is Ryan Searle’s eye condition?

Searle was diagnosed 18 months ago with the rare eye condition Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy (ADOA).

ADOA is a very rare hereditary disease where there is an energy deficiency in the optic nerve cells, which causes them to break down.

The deficiency is a result of a mutation in the OPA1 gene.

Due to the hereditary nature of the condition, Searle’s son and daughter suffer from ADOA.

Searle’s daughter, who is nine years old, is particularly affected by the disease as she is registered as visually impaired, which means she is unlikely to ever be legally permitted to drive a car.

Thanks to his exploits at this year’s World Championship, in which Searle has enjoyed his deepest run at the tournament, he has helped raise £15,000 for the Cure ADOA Foundation courtesy of media outlet ViaPlay.

In a major showing of solidarity, Paddy Power pledged to match the £15,000 raised while highlighting the severity of Searle’s condition with their altered signage for his semi-final against Luke Littler.

Speaking ahead of the match, Searle heaped praise on Paddy Power for their gesture he believed is ‘only a good thing.’

“It obviously means a lot,” Searle said.

Getty

“Paddy Power will match the donations that we’ve already had which is £15,000, so they’ll donate another £15,000 and that means a lot to the charity and they didn’t have to do that, so fair play to them.

“It’s a nice touch from them. They don’t have to do that, so if we can raise a bit more awareness and raise some money for them, it’s only a good thing.”

How does Searle’s condition impact his performance?

Although the blurred Paddy Power signage will offer a small glimpse into how Searle deals with his condition, ‘Heavy Metal’ explained after his quarter-final win over Jonny Clayton the significant impact it has on his game.

Searle revealed he sometimes has to ask the caller what he’s scored because he cannot see the board clearly enough from where he throws.

The 38-year-old added: “You know the stage lights, I find it hardest when you’re back-stage in the practice room, it’s quite bright and then you walk back-stage and it’s really dark, you know it’s behind the curtains and whatever else.

“And you sit back-stage and it’s really dark and then you go on stage and it’s really bright again and I feel like it takes me a bit of time for my eyes to adjust.

AFP

So, how does Searle cope with his condition?

“I try and combat that because it’s my right eye that isn’t as good as the left, so I kind of combat that with standing a bit further to the right to try and get my left eye more dominant than the right,” Searle said.

It is a technique he has passed on to others who have come up to him at various exhibitions and revealed they suffer with their own visual impairments.

And it is one he’ll no doubt lean on as he bids to knock Littler out in the semi-finals.