Cameron Menzies loses five stone after hand surgery and recovers from on-stage medical scare
Cameron Menzies has lost five stone following hand surgery and a medical scare that forced him to forfeit his World Matchplay encounter with Ross Smith in the summer, the 37-year-old Scot told BBC Scotland in an interview published on 14 November 2026. He has also won two PDC ProTour titles this year.
Menzies said the hand injury followed repeated punching of a drinks table on stage after his first-round exit at the PDC World Championships last December, which led to surgery and several months of reduced sensation in his hands. His collapse at the World Matchplay was attributed to high blood pressure caused by dehydration, and Menzies described the on-stage moment: "I didn't know what it was, I looked at the board and I just felt like everything was spinning," Menzies told BBC Scotland.
He gave a detailed account of the immediate response, saying: "They took me off the stage, there were paramedics and first aid on site and they were taking my blood pressure and it was up to over 200, and they were going to phone an ambulance because that was like heart attack material. "But as soon as they gave me a drink of water it dropped massively. They wouldn't let me leave the venue until they were quite happy with it and then when I came back up to Glasgow the next day I went to the Royal Infirmary and got bloods taken and stuff – it was just high blood pressure dehydration. "I have got a little blood pressure machine now. I have been taking that as much as possible and everything has been fine. "I just make sure I drink a lot more water. It was warm that day, I had a lot of TV stuff to do and I maybe didn't look after myself much because it had never happened before and hopefully never happens again."
On his weight loss, Menzies said: "My heaviest was 21-and-a-half stone, I didn't realise how big I was until I see pictures now and I am like, 'wow I was big'." He revealed doctors found an ectopic heartbeat and advised weight loss before medical treatment with tablets; "They told me to try and lose weight before they did anything with tablets, so thankfully it has dropped to a level where it is fine, I don't need tablets."
Describing his fitness routine, Menzies said: "I just usually do a 5k, I don't do many weights because then I can't throw darts but I just go for a jog. It is good for my physical health and it is good for my mental health, I never leave the gym feeling bad, I like doing it for that as well." He added that other players are embracing fitness: "You look at the players nowadays, most of them are starting to look after themselves now," Menzies added. "Luke Humphries lost a power of weight, there have been a few more. "Most of the hotels we stay in have got gyms and a lot of guys are just popping to the gym or they go on 5k runs. Even the commentators and the referees are doing it. "The darts world is changing, I do think in the future you will get a lot more people looking like sportsmen rather than darts players."
Eleven months on from the hand injury, Menzies said he has recovered and enjoyed a solid season, but recalled the uncertainty of his early recovery: "At the start of the year I thought that could have been me because I had no feeling in my hands after the operation," he said. "I was in a bandage for six weeks, and the first three or four months I couldn't feel a dart, so I am lucky. "Obviously it was my own fault but I am lucky enough that I can still play at a good level. "With the [Luke] Littler effect the prize money is good. I had a good job before as a plumber but the money in darts these days is life changing."
Menzies said he has worked on his mental approach through sports psychology and hypnotherapy: "Every night I have got a track to listen to. The sport psychologist does the hypnotherapy treatment and at night you listen to him talking to you. He is just talking to your subconscious, the same thing every night when you go to sleep. "I usually fall to sleep after 15 minutes - it is just talking to your brain really rather than yourself. "I feel like it has helped."
Menzies is due to play at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton this weekend.
