STEPHEN BUNTING has revealed how he was almost blinded by a school pal when a stone was accidentally thrown at his EYE.
The Bullet, 41, is one of the top players on the PDC circuit and lifted the BDO Lakeside world title 12 years ago.
Yet in his forthcoming autobiography, the fans’ favourite says a school accident almost ruined his darts career long before he turned professional.
The incident was so bad that he took six months off classes, underwent several major operations and opticians can still see the scar behind his eye.
Writing in his new book – Bulletproof – Bunting said: “My darts career was almost over before it had even begun. I was 14. It happened at school.
“I was out in the playground with my mates. We were playing football, just having a good time like normal, when I felt this intense pain in my eye.
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“Somebody had hurled a giant stone across the playground. I hadn’t even realised something had happened. All I knew was that I was in a hell of a lot of pain.
“The stone had come out of nowhere. I’ve always worn my glasses halfway down my nose and this stone came straight towards me, hitting me square in the eye.
“I don’t think anyone meant it. If they did, it was a great shot.
“I was rushed to hospital. It became clear this was serious. Every time I laid down, blood would run across my eyeball. I had a haemorrhage in my right eye.
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“I was off school for six months. I had to sleep sitting up. And I couldn’t play darts.
“It was pretty traumatic. I had a few major operations and it was rough at times.
“Even now when I go to the opticians, they can still see the scar behind my eye.
“When you’re off school for six months and unable to do the thing you love most, you have a lot of time to think.
“I thought I was going to lose my sight. I was so lucky I didn’t.
“I was constantly worrying about whether I would ever play again.
“Being off school for that long was tough. You’re falling behind with classes, missing your mates.
“My whole world had been turned upside down. Even when I got back to normal, I was back and forth to the hospital for the following 18 months.
“I had a lucky escape. I was young, but I’d learned a valuable lesson.
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“Your life can change in an instant. I vowed to make the most of the opportunities coming my way.
“As soon as I could play darts again, I practised even harder than before. I’d been given a second chance to do what I loved. I wasn’t going to let it slide.”
In the new book, world No9 Bunting discusses his life on the road, time on the oche and competing against two-time world champion Luke Littler – “one of the most gifted players of my lifetime, probably of all time”.
Using David Guetta’s Titanium track as his walk-on song was a masterstroke, and it has helped to build his brand globally, earning him a fortune in merchandising.
Yet there was a point where he was losing regularly and he spiralled into depression – so much so he developed a gambling addiction that saw him end up “wasting about £90,000”.
Bunting admitted: “It got pretty bad at times. I was spending money I should have been saving. And I was hiding it away from everyone.
“I needed a release from what I was going through and instead of going fishing or going to watch the football.
“I found it on fruit machines on my phone. Back then it was a pound a spin on a freakin’ gambling machine. Horrible stuff . But it was a compulsion. I couldn’t help myself.
“Nowadays, thankfully, it’s all under control. I’ll have a flutter on the horses now and then, but it’s a treat – not a compulsion.
“Gambling was a disease reflective of my own mental state. My gambling got so bad that I was still paying off the debts years later.”
St Helens-based Bunting – who used to work for a council’s “incontinence” team – says he reached the point “where I seriously considered giving up darts and getting a proper job”.
It got to the point where he was “on the internet and looking in job centres”.
He added: “I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t have made that call to my manager, asking for help.
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“It was my last-chance saloon. I knew I needed help. But if it didn’t work, I was seriously going to call it a day. I couldn’t cope anymore.”
BULLETPROOF: ‘From pub to palace, my life in darts’ by Stephen Bunting is published by HarperNorth on September 10, £20