Darts supremo Barry Hearn reveals he had major surgery before tournament as World Champs raises money for cancer charity

DARTS supremo Barry Hearn had a prostate operation in the build-up to the PDC World Darts Championship.

Sponsors Paddy Power’s The BIGGER 180 campaign has raised big funds for their chosen charity, Prostate Cancer UK.

Every 180 thrown in the 16-day tournament sees £1,000 added to a large pot — there were 914 thrown at the last champs but the Irish-based bookies rounded the figure up to £1million.

They want at least 180,000 viewers to see if they are at risk of the disease by using a 30-second online checker.

Matchroom Sport president Hearn, 76, revealed he had a prostate issue that needed resolving urgently and said: “The campaign is outstanding, it’s brilliant.

“Last year the campaign said to fans, ‘Go and get yourself checked’.

“I got myself checked and two months ago, I had a prostate operation, which has been 100 per cent successful.

“I’m quite health conscious but the campaign was the nudge that I needed.

“It’s the nudge all men need. What does it cost? It doesn’t cost anything.

“What are you… stupid? Do you want to die? Let’s call it as it is. It’s  stupidity NOT to do something about it. We don’t want to be stupid.

“Sometimes we are busy doing other things but that was the nudge I needed to follow up.

“Do you know what, I had a little problem there, so let’s get it sorted. As you can see, I still look wonderful!”

Hearn, Britain’s top sports promoter, has had two heart attacks.

The last one was in April 2020 and he had emergency surgery at the start of the Covid pandemic to insert two stents, which help keep blood vessels open.