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5th September 2024
09:49am BST
Dermot Bannon has revealed that he suffered a pulmonary embolism last month.
The Room to Improve host said he was 'in agony' and put the pain down to potentially breaking a rib.
Speaking to Ray D'Arcy on RTÉ Radio 1 this week, Bannon said that he started feeling unwell while on holidays at a waterpark.
"I was getting more and more tired. I was literally putting it down to old age," he said.
"That evening, we got back to where we're staying, and I just said: 'I'm going to go for a quick sit down on the bed'. And I was in agony."
He revealed that he couldn't lie on his side, his back or his front and after a Google search, was convinced he broke a rib.
Bannon was the only one insured on the rental car so he drove himself to hospital in Lagos where the medical team thought it was a lung infection
His pain subsided after a few days but upon his return they came back "but more severe".
"Lying in bed at four o'clock in the morning, really sharp pains down my side,” he said, after which he decided to get checked again.
"I went up to [the clinic], and 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 get a blood test done'. And I said: 'Grand. Next week?' She says: 'No, maybe now',” he said.
After a blood test and CT scan in the hospital, Bannon found out he had suffered a pulmonary embolism, "which was a blood clot that came from my leg, had worked its way up, and was in both my lungs."
"If you don't do something, the pressure in your heart can cause a cardiac arrest because this oxygen is restricted.
"I was getting the news bit by bit, how this could have turned out if I hadn't acted the way I did. You can die from it.
"It's a clot. Unless they dissolve, they're blocking oxygen from going everywhere, and the pressure can build up because your heart has to work so much to try and pump oxygen around your body.”
Bannon said that he is now on blood thinners now and has upcoming appointments to monitor his health.
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