SEARLE OPENS UP ON HEALTH CONDITION
08/07/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
RYAN SEARLE has bravely revealed how a serious eye condition affects both his game and his family.
World No. 19 Searle suffers from Dominant Optic Atrophy which causes him blurred vision.
The genetic condition has left his daughter visually impaired.
‘Heavymetal’ is determined to raise awareness and funds for research to help find a cure for his daughter and everyone affected.
He said: “I can only just legally drive. I wear contacts now, so it is not quite as bad.
“My vision is not quite as blurry, so I don’t have to stop and ask the ref what I have scored.
“That’s helped my game a lot because I’m not having to stop and pause by asking all the time.
“But I have an eye disease called Dominant Optic Atrophy which is a genetic thing.
“I have only sort of found out in the last 12-18 months because my daughter has it.
“It comes in different severities.
“Mine is fairly bad. Her’s is really bad so she’s registered as visually impaired which counts as a disability and so she’ll probably never be able to drive.”
He added: “So I’ve been talking to a charity about this where they are trying raise money to find a cure for this.
“At the moment there is no cure for it because whatever you are born with is the vision you have got.
“There is nothing to help improve it.
“So, I’m going to have a patch on my shirt saying about the charity and try and raise a bit more awareness to see if we can get towards a cure.”
Devon thrower Searle won the Players Championship Four earlier this year.
The 37-year-old has racked up six PDC titles in his stellar career but a major triumph has eluded him.
Searle came agonizingly close in 2021 when he lost 11-10 to Peter Wright in the final of the Players Championship Finals.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
