A DARTS player has earned his placed in a world championship just five years after a cardiac arrest left him thinking his "hopes had been dashed forever."

Kevin Edwards' life was saved by his wife after he suffered a major cardiac arrest at their Great Bentley home. 

Mandy Edwards performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her husband after he collapsed and lay unconscious on the bathroom floor in 2019.

Family - Kevin and Mandy Edwards Family - Kevin and Mandy Edwards (Image: Kevin Edwards) Mr Edwards, 52, who works at Hedingham’s bus depot in Clacton as a body repairer, thought his dreams of entering a senior darts tour were ruined after the incident. 

He said: “To be honest I can’t remember a lot about it. The two days before the arrest and that day are a complete blank.

“The first I knew was when I came out of a nine-day coma in hospital in Basildon. I had no strength, my legs wouldn’t work and it was a very difficult time for me.

“When I first got home I tried to throw a dart and it went about two feet. I had played darts on the main tour when I was younger but I always fancied I could do something on the seniors tour after I turned 50.

“In the weeks and months just after my cardiac arrest it seemed like those hopes had been dashed forever.”

Focus - Kevin Edwards about to throw a dartFocus - Kevin Edwards about to throw a dart (Image: Lloyd Smith) But Mr Edwards, who has taken part in the Professional Darts Corporation UK Open three times, surprised doctors when he returned to his job after just four months.

With the support of his family he has successfully worked his way back to full health and has qualified for next year’s Seniors World Darts Championships.

The field has been reduced to just 28 players and he earned his place in the event for the first time by finishing third in The Race to Tavern Table.

It gave him enough points to see him through to the Circus Tavern in Purfleet where the championships will be staged in February.

Mr Edwards said: “It is a dream come true for me and I am the first to admit none of this would not have been possible without Mandy’s intervention when I arrested.

“I wouldn’t have still been alive today and it would have just been an unfulfilled dream. She drives me to every event, is my number one fan and I owe her everything.”

Mr Edwards now sports the word flatliner on the back of his darts shirt.