Watch Kyle Anderson live in PDC Home Tour action on the Sky Sports App from 7pm on Saturday evening
Saturday 9 May 2020 08:04, UK
After over four weeks in self-isolation while battling coronavirus, Kyle Anderson says he's feeling rejuvenated as he settles back into family life in Australia.
'The Original' tested positive for COVID-19 after flying home from the UK when the PDC action was ground to a halt.
"I pretty much came back to the house, said to the missus 'I've got a bit of a cough' and she said 'maybe you should get tested just as precaution'," he explained to Sky Sports. "I went to the doctor; me, her and my son got tested. I think it was about three days later I got a phone call, saying you're positive for coronavirus.
"They said if you stay home with them, all three of you can't leave the house until you're clear.
"You need your own bedroom, you can't have dinner with your family, you can't use your same shower, you pretty much can't come out of your room. I had to be a hermit. Wait for them to go to bed before I could come out and eat food.
"So I packed up and went up to the in-laws' house. They've got a portable house up there. And I stayed there for what was meant to be two weeks, but I stayed there for four-and a half weeks!
"Very [frustrating]. It was only supposed to be two weeks. I got to 14 days and the doctor came out and gave me a test, and it came back positive. And said 'we've got to keep going until your negative result comes in'. I said 'how long is that going to take?' He said, 'no one knows'."
It was a particularly disheartening time for the Aussie.
"I was 30 minutes from my son and my wife and I couldn't come and see them. It wasn't a 30-hour flight. It was a 30-minute drive," he noted.
But the break in play has brought a major positive for the 32-year-old.
"Maybe it's just me being self-centred, but I've enjoyed it because I've got to come home. I spend the majority of the time in a year, I spend up to 10 or 11 months abroad," he continued.
"To have conversations with my son when it's not before school, after school, before bed or anything like that, it's been better. I think we've got that connection back again that we've missed for a while.
"When I do come home, it would usually be a week in May for my son's birthday. I always come home for his birthday. Then it will be the January period when I come home, after the worlds."
Spending so much time on the road forced him to take stock at the beginning of the year, as he diverted from his usual routine in 2020.
"I came home [in January] and I said to everyone, 'I need a break, I've got to spend some time at home. I can't be coming home for a three-week stint. Give me at least an extra three weeks to get everything back in order.'
"At the end of last year, I was looking at quitting the game and not going back because it got that hard for me.
"Health-wise as well. When your health starts deteriorating, all you want to do is be with your family because you're more comfortable, you're more confident in what's going to happen. But with me being away, waking up with my diabetes being horrible to me, I got worried that something is going to happen here when I can't fly home, I'd have to stay here and get fixed over here.
"If something's going to happen, it's got to happen at home with the family."
If something's going to happen, it's got to happen at home with the family
He then returned to the northern hemisphere to rejoin the tour.
"I said to myself before the UK Open, if I don't play adequate enough to my liking, that it was going to be curtains. But I played pretty well at that so I was actually happy. I was looking forward, but then coronavirus came," he explained.
"A lot of guys don't understand what we go through as non-European players, or what we've got to live with when we're away. A lot of guys when they play bad, they can go home and talk to somebody about it.
"You can't ring up home and say 'I need someone to talk to' because when you want to talk to somebody, they're asleep already at home. It's a hard thing. When you're playing well it's fine, but when you're failing, you're really failing.
"Some guys say 'it's just a game', but for us, this game pays for our bills."
And so on Saturday night, he will set his alarm for 5am to dial in and compete in the PDC Home Tour. Not that the dartboard has been his to the forefront of his mind in recent weeks.
"It's only been the last two or three days I've started throwing again. For five weeks, I couldn't throw a dart. I came back and the first day I was like 'who are you?' because it didn't even work. It was like I hadn't thrown for three or four months.
"It's a bit nervy. I'm throwing OK every now and again, but then it creeps into the horrible throws. I had a couple of mates come around the other day, and we had an hour-and-a-half throw of straight darts. I actually threw pretty well. Didn't do averages or anything, but I actually threw well.
"It's good to get back into it, but it's going to take some time to get back into it after what happened."
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