I've seen how fragile life can be so I've made the most of it

MC READY TO HANG UP MIC

- BY MIKE WALTERS

HE BROKE his neck in a parachute jump over Salisbury Plain and wished he had died when he woke up fearing he was paralysed.

Later he reinvented himself as a photographer and was embedded in 10 Downing Street when Maggie Thatcher won a third term as Prime Minister.

And for the best part of 20 years, John McDonald has been the first face you see, as master of ceremonies introducing the players, when darts pitches its big top at Alexandra Palace.

But for the 65-year-old, the PDC World Championship final on January 3 will be the end. He is retiring to spend more time with his eight grandchildren.

McDonald has been the ringmaster at Phil Taylor's collection of 16 world titles, Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith's perfect leg in the final and Luke Littler’s teenage rampage.