Dermot Bannon's 'Scary' Health Battle: RTE Star Reveals 'Dangerous Misdiagnosis' Led to Pulmonary Embolism

RTE Star Dermot Bannon Opens Up on His 'Scary' Health Battle After 'Dangerous Misdiagnosis'

RTE star Dermot Bannon has opened up on his "scary" health battle after getting a "dangerous misdiagnosis". The celebrity architect recently suffered a pulmonary embolism as a clot worked its way from his leg into his lung for "no reason".

The 52-year-old spoke to Ray D'Arcy on RTE Radio One this afternoon to spread awareness for the serious health issue. The Room To Improve star explained how the symptoms started while he was on a week long holiday with his family.

Dermot said: "On day number three I went to the waterpark with my two lads. We went on everything and as the day went on I was tired but I was putting everything down for being tired and stressed.

"That evening we got back to where we were staying and I just said, 'I'm going to go for a quick sit down in the bed' and I was in agony.

"I got into the bed and I couldn't lie on my side, on my front or my back and I said, 'I bet I broke a rib'."

After searching doctor Google, Dermot came to the conclusion he had broken a rib and drove himself to the hospital in Lagos.

He waited in the hospital for hours and when he finally got seen to he was told he had a lung infection.

Dermot was given antibiotics and the symptoms subsided but they came back a week later when he was home even "more severe".

The popular presenter went to the clinic and was told it could be something "more sinister".

He explained: "They did the blood test and it showed up that there might be some blood clotting going on. They did a CT scan immediately and I had what's known as a pulmonary embolism.

"A part of my lung has died. It's not significant enough to worry about but that was only getting worse.

"What happens if you don't spot it and do something, the pressure from your heart can cause cardiac arrest."

Dermot spoke about how "dangerous" his initial misdiagnosis was as it led him to ignore the intense pains a week later.

He said: "And I had symptoms in a moment. I'd gone to hospital in another country and they missed it. Because I was told it was an infection, when I woke up with all those pains in the middle of the night, I just assumed it was the infection.

"It was more dangerous than no diagnosis. That's the scary bit that I wasn't scared when I got these really sharp pains down my side because I'd already had a misdiagnosis.

"So it's, that's the dangerous part."

What Is a Pulmonary Embolism?

When Ray asked how serious a pulmonary embolism can be, Dermot replied: "Well you can die from it. It's a clot, unless they dissolve, they're blocking oxygen going everywhere."

Dermot warned listeners of how deadly the condition can be saying: "It's one of the biggest killers in Ireland, but nobody knows about it.

"It's the same as a heart attack and it's in the same vein as a heart attack and stroke.

"It comes from a vein in the leg, travels the whole way up and ends up in your lungs. And if the clot is big enough, it can be like, it can be quick and serious."

Dermot explained that a pulmonary embolism is when a blood clot, known as a deep venous thrombosis (DVT), forms in a deep vein, usually in your leg. The DVT, or part of it, travels in the blood and becomes lodged in a blood vessel in your lungs. Symptoms of a DVT include swelling or pain in one leg or calf and warmth or redness in a leg.

Symptoms of Pulmonary Embolism

Symptoms of a pulmonary embolism include:

Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Coughing
Rapid heart rate
Dizziness
Feeling lightheaded
Sweating

The HSE warn: "Seek medical help immediately if you or someone else develops one or more symptoms of a blood clot."

Risk Factors for Pulmonary Embolism

Health chiefs say people are more likely to get a blood clot if you are staying in or recently left hospital, are pregnant or had a baby less than six weeks ago, have active cancer or you're getting cancer treatment, cannot move one or both legs, for example if your leg is in a cast or are overweight.

Other factors that can increase the risk of clots include:

Having a family history of blood clots
Taking birth control pills
Smoking
Having a personal history of blood clots
Having a heart condition
Being immobile for long periods

Dermot's 'Scary' Recovery

The Irish star described how he was given pamphlets that "scared" him.

He said: "Then they come in to you bit by bit and they bring pamphlets. And the pamphlets are the scary bit. Because that's kind of, you need to read this now when you get home. This is what, how your life is."

Dermot told how the pamphlets had "I'm a survivor" on them and said it "freaked" him out.

He said: "That was the word that freaked me out actually the most. When that word is associated, is you're a survivor, but you have.

"And the thing is that, going forward... at the moment the treatment is very heavy kind of blood thinners, which will dissolve the thing.

"And there's two ways you can get a pulmonary embolism. One is if you've had an operation, you've had a fall, if you're pregnant, if you're on cancer treatment, like cancer and chemotherapy can cause clotting.

"And, or if you've had any kind of an operation, 90 days after the operation, you can be really susceptible.

"So they're the kind of the easy ones to watch out for.

"Mine was what's known as a spontaneous one, where there's no reason."

Dermot spoke about how he's still "at the early stages of this" and will need to go back for more assessments in the coming months.

The dad-of-three doesn't know whether he needs to be on medication for the rest of his life yet.

Dermot also spoke about the implications it has on his life saying: "I work on building sites. You get cuts, you get nicks, you fall over. I can't do that.

"I can't go skiing because you can hit your head. You can, anything that might cause bruising is, is, is dangerous."