"Getting into darts was an accident" - PDC Women's Series winner Natalie Gilbert on her remarkable journey after a stroke left her wheelchair bound for eight years

Natalie Gilbert won the final tournament of the PDC Women's Series last weekend. And that may well be called a surprise.

Gilbert looks back on this tournament victory a week later opposite Sky Sports. "I'm still on cloud nine - I haven't stopped smiling," said the 40-year-old Englishwoman. "During my matches, I was telling myself, 'I could'. I knew that if I stayed calm then there was no reason why I couldn't, so when the double five went in, there was insurmountable relief and joy."

With her tournament victory, Gilbert earned 2,000 pounds. "It has already gone," she jokes. "Because my daughter has picked a new holiday destination and she told me what crocs she wants next."

It is a miracle, by the way, that Gilbert is still active on the darts circuit, after she suffered a stroke in 2008 that left her in a wheelchair for eight years. "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."

During her recovery, Gilbert started playing darts. "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."

"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. It just grew from there but others knew [I had a talent for the sport] more than I did. I went from pub teams, to Super League, then being selected for the county and then my country over the span of over eight years."

Gilbert has a clear plan in mind. "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."

Beau Greaves, Fallon Sherrock and Mikuru Suzuki were the leading players at last year's Women's Series. "It's great to be able to speak with them on a friendship level and hear about their journey and the advice because you can never stop learning to push your game on. Women's darts can only go from strength to strength and there's more people talking about coming to our events. They need to stop talking and actually come and see the growth of our game."