The tweet came during Thursday night’s coverage of the William Hill World Darts Championship at the Alexandra Palace in London, a tournament which Ladbrokes used to sponsor.
Their tweet, with a screenshot of the presenter, read: “Dave Clark looks like he’s caught the whiff of something nasty & wants to murder the person who’s caused it…”
Clark responded: “That’ll be the chronic degenerative neurological condition that will eventually rob me of the ability to walk, talk and smile.”
Ladbrokes later replied: “@DaveClarkTV we would like to apologise sincerely for what was a completely ill-judged, and inappropriate tweet. We will today be making a donation to @ParkinsonsUK in support of his excellent charity. Keep up the great work”
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Match of the Day pundit and former England star Alan Shearer tweeted: “Wow! Two people tweeting. One is a gentleman, who inspires us all. The other a little prat on a keyboard hoping for a cheap laugh. I know who I stand with. You’re an inspiration Dave. F**k them. Keep doing yourself and everyone else proud.#parkinsons#hero.”
After his match on Thursday night, Peter Wright, the World No 2 player, donated his shirt to Clark and was pictured with him.
Clark had taken a screen shot of the Ladbrokes tweet about him and posted it with his reply.
Clark, whose father also suffered with Parkinson’s, was diagnosed with the disease in 2011.
Raising awareness for the disease, in 2016 Clark did a 200 mile coast-to-coast walk across England to raise funds for Parkinson’s UK.
Steve Ford CEO of Parkinson’s UK said: “We’re staggered at the lack of understanding of Parkinson’s that has been displayed here.
“Parkinson’s can cause a stiff, ‘mask-like’ facial expression that can make it difficult to talk-and smile.
“This message does nothing to help people feel more able to talk about their own Parkinson’s. Sadly, we know that many feel that they need to hide their symptoms or lie about the condition, in some cases for fear that they will be stigmatised.
“Parkinson’s UK is proud to have Dave Clark as an ambassador. He has played a huge role in raising awareness of Parkinson’s and supporting others. He has also personally raised tens of thousands of pounds, to support Parkinson’s research.
“We’re pleased to see that Ladbrokes has since apologised for their tweet, and the donation they will be making to Parkinson’s UK will support our work to find better treatments and a cure.”