Andy Fordham wiki
Andy Fordham Biography
Who was Andy Fordham?
Darts legend Andy Fordham died of organ failure in hospital aged just 59 his spokesperson confirmed today as devoted wife Jenny said he would ‘always be her champion’.
Fordham – known as The Viking in the sport because of his appearance – had suffered numerous health scares in the later stages of his life.
At his peak he was crowned world champion in 2004 after defeating Mervyn King at the BDO World Championship.
But he had health problems and once weighed 31 stone and drank 25 bottles of lager a day.
A spokesman confirmed to MailOnline he passed away in hospital on Thursday morning after suffering major organ failure.
Friends said he had been fighting ill health for 14 months, but his determination to get better meant he bravely gave little hint of any problems publicly.
His devoted wife Jenny, who was at his bedside of him as he passed away, said in tribute to him today: ‘Andy was, is, and always will be my champion’.wikipedia
How old was Andy Fordham?
February 2, 1962, Bristol, United Kingdom
Cause of Death
He contracted coronavirus in January this year and revealed to The Sun in an emotional interview that doctors warned him that the disease could affect him ‘very quickly’.
“This is the scariest thing I’ve ever had to face in my life,” he said.
“ My biggest fear is waking up one morning, not being able to breathe and being placed in the back of the ambulance, and then never seeing my wife and children again.
“When he catches the virus, he suddenly realizes everything that he takes for granted.
“ I’m sitting thinking a lot about all the things that I would miss if this virus got the better of me, like watching my grandchildren grow up. I just hope and pray to get over it. ‘
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Following Fordham’s world championship triumph, he faced Phil Taylor in a box office clash titled The Showdown.
He felt bad during the game and stopped going 5-2 due to health problems that arose after it was learned that he would drink a lot before going to the eighth.
Fordham’s last professional appearance came in 2018 at t + he World Masters. He was hospitalized in March 2020 with a bowel problem, so 16 liters of fluid were drained from his body.
A statement on the BDO website read: “ The British Darts Organization is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of darts legend Andy (The Viking) Fordham, a true gentleman of the game that we will all deeply miss.
“Our hearts and thoughts go out to his family at this time.”
Andy Fordham Detail
His legendary drinking exploits were synonymous with his career as a fan favorite, though he later warned of the devastating impact alcohol had on his health.
Fordham once drank 62 bottles of Pils after celebrating his and his wife Jenny’s first wedding anniversary in 2001.
While appearing on Celebrity Fit Club in 2004, Fordham revealed that he stopped drinking beer and instead drank six bottles of wine a day during a five-day bachelor party in Tenerife.
Despite this, he would go on to win the show’s biggest loser challenge, losing more than three stones.
When he was a teenager growing up in Charlton, southeast London, he was nicknamed ‘The Whippet’ for his slim figure, weighing only 13 to 20 years old.
He was a great track and field athlete and footballer, but in 1995 he turned to darts and started running his own pub, where his weight began to slowly increase.
He told MailOnline that his weight reached 31: ‘I never ate a lot, but I ate badly, grabbing ready meals (takeout, pizzas, kebabs) because I was always so busy.
“ If I worked behind the bar, I would eat peanuts or chips and never exercise. And then there was the drink.
‘Looking back, I realize that he was an alcoholic. I couldn’t stop myself. I thought I was in control, but I wasn’t.
“ He would start drinking as soon as he came downstairs to open the bar, around 11 in the morning.
“On a typical day, he would consume up to 25 bottles of beer and half a bottle of liquor: vodka, brandy or whiskey.
Before darts games, I would drink to calm my nerves. People assume that alcoholics insult and fall all over the place, but I never drank to get drunk.
Where most athletes develop a taste for women or fast cars, ‘The Viking’ was seduced by food and alcohol.
Instead of a shower or motivational music before going to the eight, Fordham confessed that he had a much more basic preparation: he told the Telegraph in 2005: “ Before a game, I like to relax with 25 bottles of Holsten Pils and six cakes. steak and kidney. .
But the diet was part of the problem, it was an integral part of his success. In the same interview he said: ‘I remember my first world champions, I was incredibly nervous.
‘He was very scared. So before my first game I drank a lot and the worst thing that could have happened happened – it worked.
And from that moment I felt that I had to do it again. He helped concentration, he numbed everything, you were not aware of what was happening behind you, you could only concentrate on what was in front of you, the board. ‘
Throughout his illustrious career, he faced numerous health problems.
In 2005, when he played Phil Taylor at a PDC v WDC event titled “The Showdown,” “The Viking collapsed in the eighth.”
A year later he was due to play at Lakeside, but he dropped out after experiencing breathing difficulties backstage.
Andy was rushed to nearby Frimley Park Hospital, where X-rays revealed that a large accumulation of fluid in his chest had crushed one of his lungs.
He was placed in the high dependency unit of the hospital and for a week his life was at stake.
This second health scare led him to lose weight, losing 14th with the help of his partner Jenny and his two children Raymond and Emily, before returning to darts in 2007.
But in January of that year, ‘The Viking’ collapsed while preparing for the opening match of the British Organization for Darts World Championship.
He was rushed to the hospital after suffering severe chest pains and breathing problems, and had a mild stroke.
Andy was diagnosed with cirrhosis (more than 70 percent of his liver has been destroyed) and told that unless he stopped drinking, he would only have a few years to live.
Fordham revealed at the time that his goal was to play darts again in “six weeks.”
After being told that he might need bowel surgery to save his life last March, Fordham told the Sun that he “would keep fighting until I couldn’t fight anymore.”
He added: ‘There have been some things that have gone wrong and it is all due to alcohol.
If you drink too much, take a look at my story, you will see that it is not worth it. I am not proud of that.
“Not only does it ruin your life, it can ruin the lives of many other people as well.”
Andy Fordham Quicks and Facts
- Andy Fordham suffered from numerous health problems and once weighed 31st
- The Bristol-born darts icon died on Thursday with his wife, Jenny, by his side
- He caught Covid earlier this year, revealing it was ‘the scariest thing’ he faced
- Fordham’s feats of drinking were synonymous with his career as a fan-favourite, but he would later warn of the devastating impact alcohol had on his health
