Luke Littler said he was “inspired” by a superfan who fell in love with darts during a serious battle with meningitis.
Littler got in touch with 10-year-old Josh Billingham, who was hospitalised with a bout of the viral disease at the end of 2023.
His stint in hospital coincided with Littler’s rise to prominence and Billingham, from Halesowen in the West Midlands, became a superfan.
Littler read about his story online and made the child’s dream come true after inviting him to the draw for the World Championship in London on Monday.
The 18-year-old presented Billingham, who has made a full recovery, with a signed shirt and also threw some darts with him.
Littler said: “I saw his story online, it honestly really inspired me.
“Obviously, he’s battled meningitis and we invited him down here. I was literally just scrolling and saw the story, clicked on it and had a read.
“I reached out to him, sent him a message and I invited him to the draw.
“It’s just one of those things, scrolling, seeing a little boy, I’m his idol. It was a good story.
“I spoke to him, he wanted his shirt signing and I gifted him a new shirt and some darts. I think he was very excited to see the draw.”
Billingham’s parents kept the surprise from their son until it was revealed during an interview with local radio on Monday morning.
His mum Lisa said: “He was just shocked. I think he’d have been happy with a piece of paper in the post with an autograph, but what he’s experienced is another level beyond anything.
“He had viral meningitis. It was around the sort of time that Luke Littler was making a name for himself.
“He was in hospital for just over a week-and-a-half – nearly two weeks – and then he had quite a bit of time off school.
“In that time he just started to really sort of jump on the darts. So he was watching that a lot and then gradually he started to play.
“And now he plays every single day, so every single chance that he gets, he’ll play darts.”
