Dermot Bannon’s life has changed since his serious health diagnosis.
The architect suffered a major health scare after dealing with bouts of agony that was initially thought to be a lung infection.
However, further tests showed that he was actually dealing with a pulmonary embolism.
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He was on a summer holiday with his family in Portugal last year, when he suffered it. Unbeknownst to him, a clot had worked its way from his leg into his lungs.
It was on the third day of his holiday when he began to feel exhausted. During the night, he experienced incredible pain and wasn't able to lie down in bed.
He assumed that he had broken a rib after being at a water park that day, however, a hospital X-ray the next day indicated that he had a lung infection from his recent dealings with Covid-19.
When Dermot returned to Dublin a week later, the pain came back. A blood test revealed a chance of clotting, while a subsequent CT scan discovered the pulmonary embolism.
The TV presenter told the Irish Independent: “[A] blood clot that came from my leg had worked its way up, was in my lungs, in both lungs.”
He continued: “The scare was good for me in some ways because it made me realise how precious life is. Bad in other ways because I’m on medication for the rest of my life. Life is different. I really have to be careful. I have to be really careful about cuts and bruises. I can’t fall.”
“What was really weird was when I left the hospital - because it all happened so quick - I was handed pamphlets about my new life and what I can do. One that really hit was: skiing.”
“Not because I am a massive skier, but I always had one of these boxes to tick, a life goal was to bring the kids skiing. Every year there was a Leaving Cert or a Junior Cert. It just didn’t suit. And this year it did, because I had one child in transition year, one in college and one in sixth class/ There were no big state exams. And the one year we could go on a family skiing holiday, the pamphlet said no.”
Dermot is still able to do many of the things he enjoys, like swimming, walking, adding: “I can do anything. My blood just doesn’t clot. Because I got blood clots, I have to take thinners to stop my blood from clotting.”
He has noticed that little cuts don’t heal as fast. For example, after getting a nick on the back of his neck during a hair cut, it didn’t stop bleeding for 20 minutes.
He explained: “If I fall over here and hit my head off a rock skiing all the internal bleeding is the dangerous bit. I keep asking the doctors every time I go back, ‘What about the skiing?’ They just keeping laughing and say, ‘No, Dermot, we told you no.’”
He shared that he realises how precious life is, stating: “And how quickly, in a heartbeat, it can be taken away”.
The RTE star is focused on filling his life with things he enjoys. He said: “The days of the drudge are over. I don’t mean that I’m not going to work hard any more. But I'm not going to work hard at something I don’t believe in, and it’s something I don’t want to do. Life is too short for putting in time.
“I think that’s what it was - it was the full-stop last summer. I realised I could have been gone. And so, what am I going to do with the rest of my time?”
He explained that he wants to spend more time with people, enjoying time with friends and investing in friendships he didn’t realise he had before.
“I’ve been given a second chance. Use it. That’s what it is for me now," the added.
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