Emotional Brian Raman opens up on private struggles: "Almost lost my infant son three times"

Brian Raman has been hampered by private problems during the past two years on the Pro Tour. The 27-year-old Belgian told his story about it on the podcast 'Double Top'.

Raman captured his PDC Tour Card early last year, at which time he was the world number one in the WDF. "The level difference between the two federations is particularly big," he says. "Especially in the first rounds of a tournament you notice that very well. At the WDF you can often get through those first rounds quietly, but at the PDC you have to be top from the start. I have regularly lost first rounds where an opponent threw above a hundred average, you will normally never see that at the WDF."

On top of that, Raman was not spared privately. "I almost lost my son three times. In the end he came through fine each time, but it's still something you take with you. Every time I was abroad for a tournament I was anxious that something would go wrong."

For example, one day Raman suddenly received a phone call from his girlfriend. "I was sitting in my hotel room and had fallen asleep. Suddenly I was called via 'facetime' by my girlfriend. She was distraught because my little son was having febrile convulsions, so his brain was not functioning as it should and his breathing was also disturbed. We then decided together to call the ambulance. The doctors told us afterwards that if we had waited ten minutes longer, our little son would not be here now."

"Something like that really comes in," Raman continued. "In addition, he also had corona and the rsv virus. Fortunately, now everything is going well again."

Raman also didn't want to burden other people with his problems. "For example, I had a little argument with Keegan Brown myself for a while. I was sitting at the table and didn't say much, whereupon Keegan started making fun of me a bit. However, he didn't know anything and then I explained the situation anyway, of course he showed understanding and the argument was quickly settled. But I am an inside man and prefer to maintain my privacy as much as possible."