Wright “sick with worry” over wife Jo’s back woes

By Phil Lanning

EXCLUSIVE

PETER WRIGHT revealed that he was “sick with worry” over wife Jo being rushed into treatment at the London spine clinic.

The 2020 World Champion has been out-of-sorts in the Premier League and rooted to the bottom of the table with just four matches to go.

But Wright, 51, has opened up about his fears for Jo who underwent a serious back operation a year ago to fuse two vertebrae in her lower spine but has been riddled with pain since.

He said: “The last day of the Premier League I was sick with worry and guilt. Jo got a call to have a spinal steroid injection under deep sedation by Professor Arun Ranganathan of the London Spine Clinic.

“She did my hair and headpaint and then left Milton Keynes at 2pm to get into London for the treatment. I felt dreadful that I couldn’t be there with her. 

“Jo has been through hell and serious pain for over 18 months now. We are just all hoping that this steroid injection does the trick. Otherwise I think it could well mean another serious operation on her back. 

“I’ve got to be honest, it’s been hard to concentrate properly on darts. I’m not one for making excuses, if I’ve played bad in the past I’ve always admitted I’ve been crap.

“But it’s been a worry. I don’t think I’ve been sleeping right with anxiety, my right shoulder constantly hurts when I’m throwing. I’m just not my normal self. 

“I guess it’s a reminder that us dart players are also human beings and we have personal issues and worries to deal with. Hopefully this will be sorted for Jo now and we can then all relax a bit and get back to normal life.”

A clearly distracted Wright lost 8-1 to Jose de Sousa on Friday night and admits he now needs a miracle to reach finals night as he is five points behind the The Special One who currently occupies fourth place.

He added: “I know that I’ve left myself a lot to do but I like a challenge. I’ll return to Milton Keynes with the aim to win my final remaining matches and see what happens.

“I’m going to love getting on stage with fans back, I cannot wait for that. I have felt flat for over a year now without crowds. I need that adrenaline back, I miss the wall of noise.”

Images by Taylor Lanning.