"Worst gout attack I've ever had" - Even the extremely strong drug prednisone doesn't help darts star Vincent van der Voort
Vincent van der Voort was actually supposed to compete in the World Seniors Darts Championship last week. However, he had to sit out a gout attack and his first-round opponent Neil Duff was given a free pass to the next round. The 49-year-old Van der Voort regularly struggles with gout attacks.
"That was the worst gout attack I've ever had," van der Voort said on the "Darts Draait Door" podcast. "I spent the whole week on the sofa because I really couldn't do anything. Even now I'm still suffering from it."
Van der Voort was prescribed a range of painkillers, including the extremely powerful drug prednisone, but it did not help and Van der Voort was barely able to move for a whole week.
"Really worthless. Now studies are finally being done and medication is being increased. They're finally taking it seriously, so I should be able to handle it better. I was always told to watch my diet and so on, and I took my medication all the while. That doesn't help anymore, though, and it's been really bad now. But in the last year and a half it's been a lot more of a burden on me anyway."
Physical problems also thwarted his planned participation in the MODUS Super Series at the beginning of the year. Even in the final months of last year, when Van der Voort was still active on the PDC Pro Tour, he often suffered from physical ailments.
"Every time you have to speed, it becomes too much for you," says podcast host Damian Vlottes. "My body then tells me that we had agreed to stop. We're not doing this anymore, buddy," Van der Voort can still laugh slightly. "But all joking aside, we're really going to do something about it now."
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