Natalie Gilbert discusses her journey from suffering a debilitating stroke to winning the final Women's Series event of 2023 after suffering a stroke in 2012. The PDC Women's Series event that Natalie won has made her the most prestigious athlete in Tamworth. However, her journey to the top is has not hit the bullseye you see from other darts players.
During her time in Wigan, the Warwickshire star demolished three-time Lakeside Champion Anastasia Dobromyslova to reach the last 16. In round two, she held off a late attack from Adriana van Wijgerden-Vermaat.
Then during her opening match, Gilbert also defeated Astrid Trouwborst and then defeated Eleanor Cairns in a straight sets match. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Noa-Lynn van Leuven in a dramatic encounter, before taking down Kirsty Hutchinson in a tense semifinal battle.
The result of these events set up a showdown between Lorraine Winstanley and a match between the top four women in Event 24.
The match between Gilbert and Winstanley was officially game on…
After leading 2-0 and 4-2, Gilbert held on for a victory as she doubled her PDC Women's Series tally. Despite Winstanley's efforts to climb back into the race, it was Gilbert who maintained her composure to win this game.
After still feeling on cloud nine, and with a smile on her face, Gilbert became just the tenth player to win a PDC Women's Series title! Hosted at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, Gilbert took home the top prize of £2,000 for the female player and set out for a well-deserved holiday to Cyprus with her family.
After suffering from a debilitating stroke in 2012, Natalie Gilbert has demonstrated the strength and will to you can overcome anything, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Even at the time Gilbert stated speaking to Sky Sports:
"I suffered functional hemiplegia on my left side so I was wheelchair-bound before I was fully able to mobilise independently," she said. "I was 25 at the time, but it happened out of the blue. I was devastated and couldn't quite comprehend it.”
“Getting into darts was an accident. I was actually helping run poker tournaments in pubs and there was a dart board in the pub called 'The Pint Pot' in Mere Green, so just for a bit of fun I would go over and try and throw.”
Gilbert then added: “I enjoyed it and having physio at the time, I remember speaking to the therapist telling her I was throwing a few darts and she said I could use that as part of my physio to help learn to balance.”
And even going through her recovery and making it to the top step, for Natalie it doesn’t stop there:
In regards to her future she said: "My ambition is to try and go as far as my game will let me. I'm now in a provisional spot for the Matchplay so I need to keep working to try and solidify that spot."
So will we see Natalie take on some of the prestigious darts players in PDC? We'll have to wait and see!
Aaron Teasdale
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