The Mirror In an emotional interview given to mark 12 months since Derek Draper first fell ill and was admitted to hospital, Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway shared the devastating impact the virus has had on her family
Kate Garraway called husband Derek Draper’s situation a ‘horror story’ as she opened up about his long recovery fromĀ coronavirus.
In an interview given to mark 12 months since Derek first fell ill and was admitted to hospital, the Good Morning Britain presenter shared the devastating impact the virus has had on her family.
She told theĀ Sunday Times MagazineĀ : “The very worst moment was when they said he could be locked in for ever. And I just thought, this is a horror story.
“I donāt know if heāll ever have any kind of life again. We just donāt know.”
While Derek, 53, no longer has coronavirus, his body was completely ravaged by the disease and he remains in hospital, with Kate and their two children having no idea when, or if, he will be able to return home.
After being put in an induced coma last March the virus caused havoc throughout Derek’s entire body, resulting in kidney failure, liver and pancreatic damage. He has holes in his lungs from pneumonia and has lost 8stone.
When the drugs causing the coma were removed, Derek did not wake. At one point, Kate was wrongly told he may have died after a hospital worked mixed him up with another patient.
Kate, also 53, called the physical changes in her husband ‘shocking’ and said that while he was no longer in a coma, his moments of consciousness were fleeting.
āI feel like he is in an ocean of unconsciousness and sometimes he comes up to the surface,” she said.
While Derek can occasionally communicate, Kate says within moments: “The focus of the concentration disappears, and heās gone.ā
And Kate says when she told her husband he would get better, he replied simply: “How?ā
Due to the lockdown Derek’s family have been unable to visit him for months. Kate last saw him in December and has been told his condition has deteriorated ‘dramatically.’
Kate suspects this is due to the lack of human contact, and retains hope that he will one day return home.
She has had her hallways widened for a wheelchair and installed a wetroom, even picking new tiles he would like.
While her husband of 15 year’s long illness has devastated Kate’s family emotionally, it has also had huge impacts financially. With her husband no longer officially in a coma, the self-employed telly star has no rights over his affairs.
She cannot access their joint savings or refinance their mortgage, or even upgrade their mobile phones without shelling out hundreds of pounds – all because Derek’s name was on the paperwork.
Kate admitted she had been in a ‘continual survival mode’ since Derek fell ill, and has relied on her friends for financial support when unable to work.
She hired a nanny to help care for their children, but says the nanny is currently on bereavement leave, having lost a member of her own family to coronavirus.
Kate said: “I am a de facto single parent now.”
She says the worse part of not having her husband at home, is having no one to share her interest in Darcey, 15, and William, 11.
āitās actually about sharing the joy that I miss with Derek. Itās about when Billy says something preposterous, or Darcey says something cheeky. Thatās when I miss him the most.ā
Throughout his illness, Derek’s battle has been filmed for a documentary, which will screen next month. Kate has also been writing a book, which will be published in April.
* Kate Garraway: Finding Derek airs on ITV on March 23 at 9pm
* Kateās book The Power of Hope is published on April 29
