‘I’m just devastated’: Dermot Bannon on grieving Michael Stokes’s death

Dermot Bannon has said seven months after his passing, he still can't bring himself to look at a picture of Room To Improve client Michael Stokes.

Michael, who lived with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, stole the nation's hearts when he appeared on the RTÉ show in 2016 alongside his former teacher and foster parent Ann Higgins and her husband Barry. He died in an accident earlier this year aged 15. Speaking on The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio One today, Dermot said; "He had this amazing charisma and amazing personality. “Within five minutes of meeting Michael he had completely disarmed you. "I’m just devastated for them, I really am. I think about them every single day. I can’t look at a picture of Michael yet. “It’s horrendous and I’m very thankful that I got to meet him, thankful that I knew him, because he brought a perspective into my life." Continuing, Dermot said that the teenager had inspired him and many others. "When you saw him with the chair, and the difficulty he had getting into the car and doing regular things, he did it with such joy. “Everything in life made him so happy and he embraced them. That taught me a huge amount to not sweat the small stuff. “He was an amazing beacon of life and I’m so glad that we did the show because I think he taught a lot of people and he had such heart.” In an episode of Room To Improve, Dermot was tasked with making Anne and Barry's home in Malahide in Dublin more accessible for Michael, who was in a wheelchair. The youngster would visit Malahide for some short breaks away from residential accommodation and later moved in with Ann and Barry full time, and they became his foster parents.