Hector Ó hEochagáin has opened up on his 'pain and loneliness' after the sudden death of his brother, as he marked his first anniversary in a touching tribute.
The presenter’s brother, Derek ‘Freddie’ Keogan, died after a sudden heart attack, while cycling to work in Copenhagen last year.
This week marks one year since his passing, and Hector and his family spent the weekend remembering him together.
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Avoiding the tradition of mass, he told The Tommy, Hector & Laurita Podcast: “We are planting an oak tree and in that oak tree will be some of Freddie’s ashes.
"We have kept some in special holders, and a Meath man has done this, and it is a lovely way of doing it, he has put it into the chunk of the ash tree and it will be there forever.
“So I am going to plant that at the weekend in our back garden.”
“And it is visible and you can see it in the trunk as it grows.”
He added: “We finally got the headstone done because I didn’t know what to get for a long time…
“I was thinking and thinking, and talking to Luka and Asta, so we got a heart with some danish and some english and lovely quotes on it.
“And so I have a little viking Thor hammer, Freddie used to always wear these viking thor hammer T-shirts when he was training, so that is on it as well. So it will be a nice tribute to him.”
One year on, Hector said the pain is still as present as it was when he first got the tragic news 12 months ago.
In a candid chat with his pals and fellow podcast hosts Tommy Tiernan and Laurita Blewitt, he said: “So it is a year, it’s mad isn’t it…
“Of other anniversaries of people passing, and grief, this one is a bit different, this is a bit more real, the missing of him is still as sore and as painful as it was 12 months ago.
“I still miss him an awful lot, I still feel pain and sadness an awful lot that he is not there anymore. It is terrible. There is a loneliness…
“There is a loneliness when you lose your mother and father but there is a loneliness when I lost my brother.”
The father-of-two said his priority is now keeping connected to his nieces and nephews, Freddie’s son Luka and daughter Asta, in his absence.
“His son came over for eight weeks before Christmas, to work in Salthill,
Luca, and his beautiful daughter Asta is making the journey with her best friend this weekend to be in Ireland for the anniversary, so that will be special.
“I’m so happy they are coming over because I want to continue the strong links for Asta and Luca of their Irish blood and what their father gave them and their celtic connection and strong Atlantic connection.
“The two of them have a fondness for Ireland so it is up to me now to have the door open for them and make sure they are always welcome and that there is always a bed there for them.”
The Navan native also told how he is hoping to continue to use his brother’s devastating death to highlight the importance of heart health,
and turn their pain into prevention.
“But the positive thing is, the mad thing about this is that a year later,
so many people are still coming up to me on the street or in the shop or writing me a letter, or sending me a card and saying ‘thank you, i’m after getting a stint, i’m after getting myself checked out…’
“This whole thing has highlighted something positive out of the sadness,
that men need to check their hearts because there are blockages there that we don’t know about.
“So get yourself checked out if you are a man or a woman if you have any issues.”
“It’s mad it has been a year, but sadness will be replaced with laughter,"
he added, before the trio collectively concluded the tribute together saying, 'To Freddie'.
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