'I was in agony': Dermot Bannon suffers pulmonary embolism
RTÉ presenter Dermot Bannon recently suffered a pulmonary embolism and is now urging others to mind their health and to watch out for any warning signs.
The Room to Improve host said the clot had worked its way up from his leg into both of his lungs after going on holiday during the summer.
The 52-year-old explained that a "little part of his lung" had died as the blood flow was restricted.
However, he said it was not significant enough to worry about and he is now on heavy blood thinners which will help dissolve the clot.
"During the summer, we went away for a week's holiday, we went to Portugal.
"Day number three, I went to the waterpark with my two lads," he told RTÉ's The Ray Darcy Show on Wednesday.
He added that as the day went on, he felt exhausted.
"That evening, we got back to where we were staying and I said 'I'm going to go for a quick sit down on the bed'," Mr Bannon said.
"And I was in agony."
He said when he got into the bed, he could not lie on his back, side or front.
He thought he had broken a rib on one of the water slides.
He said he googled it and then thought he definitely did break his rib.
Mr Bannon then drove himself to a hospital in Lagos as he was the only one insured in the car.
After being seen, he was told he did not have a broken rib.
A chest x-ray was then taken and the 52-year-old was told he had a lung infection.
"I had had covid three weeks before that, so it was all put down to that," he said.
Mr Bannon explained he got better and that the symptoms had subsided and flew home.
"Then a week later — if I'd gone for two weeks holiday, I would've still been over there — the pains came back, but more severe," he said.
"Lying in the bed, 4am, really sharp pains down my side. I was pumping Neurofen into myself to try and get rid of them."
He said he went to his health insurance clinic the next day.
"She said, 'Yeah, you have a bit of a lung infection, it hasn't cleared up — but there could be something a bit more sinister.
"I'd like you to go and get a blood test done."
The presenter said he went to A&E for the test which showed that "there might be some clotting going on".
Dermot Bannon was on holiday when, what he thought was a broken rib, turned out to be something a bit more sinister."Then they did a CT scan immediately, and I had what was known as a pulmonary embolism which was a blood clot that came from my leg, and had worked its way up in my lungs — both lungs.
He added that a little part of his lung had died as the blood flow had been restricted, however, he said it was not significant enough to worry about.
"What happens if you don't spot it, don't do anything, the pressure in your heart could cause a cardiac arrest because oxygen is being restricted."
Mr Bannon said the embolism was spontaneous and he is on heavy blood thinners.
However, he said he is still in the early stages and will have to go back for all the assessments in the next few months.
"And they will tell me then what could have been, whether I will be on medication for the rest of my life," he said.
