“When you see her lying there with such a swollen face… it brings tears to your eyes” – Van Barneveld reflects on his mother’s illness in new documentary

Raymond van Barneveld is the founding figure of Dutch darts. Now 58, the Hague native became world champion five times, but not everything went smoothly during his long career. One of the hardest blows he faced was his mother’s illness.

In 2019, news emerged that she had been diagnosed with jaw cancer. She had to undergo multiple rounds of radiotherapy and surgery to her face and jaw, which had a huge impact on her social life. In the new Viaplay documentary Van Barneveld: Gevangen door Darts, the Dutchman speaks about it openly and admits he still struggles with it to this day.

Interviewers Jacques Nieuwlaat and Koert Westerman show Van Barneveld a photo of his parents, and he reacts immediately. “Unfortunately, my mother is doing a little worse. That awful disease in her face… She has already had several operations in the hospital. I’m definitely worried about her. But she is a very strong person,” he says proudly.

“We’ve been to the hospital a few times and when she is lying there with such a swollen face, it brings tears to your eyes. You get quite emotional,” he says. He then adds that he shares her character. “She keeps to herself a lot, which I recognise. Always letting people walk all over her.”

His father, on the other hand, was always the one who stepped forward. “He makes himself heard. Together they make a great couple and I love them very much,” says Van Barneveld.

His father also contributed to ‘Barney’s’ success, without realising it at the time. When Van Barneveld senior went to collect his wages at The Entertainer Darts Bar in The Hague, where he worked, young Raymond would throw darts in the meantime. “Throwing a spear — I had no idea it was called darts,” he says with a smile.

He then remembers how things began to snowball. “For my seventeenth birthday I asked for a dartboard. It wasn’t an official one, it was green with red segments. I never saw it again. In my room, my father, who was a carpenter, made a lovely board with little pillars where I could put my trophies. I still remember showing my first little trophy to my grandad — he just sat there crying. That meant something. On Saturday evenings I’d ride my moped to The Entertainer, throw my helmet behind the bar and play tournaments. But there wasn’t a penny to be earned.”

Later this month, the 58 year old darts legend will prepare for his nineteenth appearance at the PDC World Darts Championship. And although Van Barneveld may no longer reach the heights of his glory years, he remains a phenomenon who helped put Dutch darts on the map.