A young boy from Belfast who has battled cancer since birth was left “star-struck” after meeting his hero, darts world champion Luke Littler.
Two-year-old Hunter Parker was born with cancer and a tumour that compressed his spinal cord, which gave him very little to no movement in his lower half.
The brave youngster spent 100 days on life support and 113 days in intensive care, leaving him in a wheelchair.
“He’s had a rough start to life,” his mother, Emma, said.
However, during his time in hospital, Hunter fell in love with darts, his mum explained.
“It was a sport that he could actually do,” she said, adding that “it is helping with his hand and his motor skills”.
Luke signing items for Hunter
And Hunter’s favourite player is world darts champion Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler, from Warrington.
Hunter could hardly believe it when he got to meet his 18-year-old hero ahead of Thursday night’s Premier League event at the SSE Arena in Belfast.
Emma explained how she reached out to Littler’s father, after having had posts of her son’s love of Luke go viral, and described the meeting as “the power of social media”.
“He was starstruck. It was so funny. I mean, the pictures tell you a thousand words,” she said.
Emma said the meeting was a dream come true for Hunter, who had a shirt and his own Luke Littler dartboard both autographed by the sportsman.
“Luke was such a gentleman with Hunter,” she said.
Littler’s father also got them tickets to the darts event at the SSE.
“We were in the wheelchair-accessible area and then the crowd around us recognised [Hunter] from Facebook and social media and they were all cheering him,” she said.
Emma said she was so grateful that her son got to have that special moment.
Mum Emma, dad Raymond and son Hunter with Luke Littler
“I’m sure that Luke gets tortured everywhere he goes, and he still took the time and effort to come and meet Hunter. It’s absolutely incredible,” she added.
And Littler wasn’t the only darts player to pay the young boy a visit. English stars Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall met Hunter too.
But Emma said Luke remains her son’s favourite player: “Whenever Luke was on stage, it was like Hunter didn’t even blink. It was all about his Luke.”
After the event, Littler’s father even caught up with the Hunter and Emma.
“To go from a stranger who has a really busy life to a friend that wants to know how Hunter is getting on in life, it’s really humbling,” she said.
It was a frustrating night for Littler, however, as Michael van Gerwen got revenge for losing out to the 18-year-old in the World Darts Championship final, winning in a thrilling final-leg decider in their quarter-final.
Despite the result, Emma said, Littler will always be a winner in her son’s eyes.
Darts stars Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall also visited Hunter Parker
Beyond the event, the darts star was snapped enjoying a steak dinner with his family in Belfast while competing in the city. Coming almost a year after he visited the same city centre eatery, Littler was pictured tucking into the meal at Top Blade in St Anne’s Square.
In a post on social media, the steak restaurant wrote: “It was our pleasure to host @lukethenukelittler again this year along with his amazing parents.
“They both took time to chat, sign autographs and have their pictures taken with fans. An absolute credit to the sport of darts. We look forward to watching Luke defend his title tomorrow evening.”
While the restaurant had offered its best wishes, ultimately Littler was unable to retain his title, as Luke Humphries triumphed following a comprehensive performance against Dobey in the final.
The second night of Premier League action takes place in Glasgow next Thursday.