How Littler inspired patient to be next darts ace

Josh became an "absolutely huge" fan of darts while watching Luke Littler during his recovery from meningitis

"Luke Littler is my idol and I love watching every game he plays."

Josh was recovering from a bout of viral meningitis when he first saw the now 18-year-old darts sensation in action.

Since then, the youngster from Halesowen, Dudley, has become an "absolutely huge" fan of the sport, his mum Lisa said, and is now determined to follow in his footsteps.

"It just ignited something in Josh," Lisa added. "He [Littler] is his idol."

She said Josh was off school for some time after he became ill, around the time Littler started to make a name for himself.

As well as encouraging Josh to play, she said working out the checkouts in darts helped develop his maths skills, a subject she described as not his strongest.

"I think it was the fact that Josh was only 10 and Luke was 16 - he could really relate to him," Lisa said.

"He was just amazed someone so young could make such a difference and was famous on TV."

Josh became ill with viral meningitis and was off school for some time

Josh said his family now have two dartboards in their home – one in the living room and one in the bedroom – and he plays with his dad every spare minute they have.

"Luke Littler is my idol and I love watching every game he plays," he said.

The family were among the crowd when Littler won the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton on Sunday, becoming world number one for the first time.

"I was really lucky that my mum and dad got me the tickets and I got to see Luke Littler win," Josh said. "It was the best night of my life."

He said he was keen to see Littler in action again and was hoping to get him to sign his shirt.

Asked if Josh was aiming to become a darts player, Lisa said it was between that and football.

"You can just see the passion he's got for it [darts]…he just loves it," Lisa added.