Kate Garraway gives update on husband Derek Draper
Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway has revealed she’ll be hosting Christmas for her family and in-laws as it’s too “challenging” for her husband Derek Draper to travel. The former political advisor is wheelchair-bound and relies on assistance to stand up after health complications from Covid-19 robbed him of his mobility.
Kate’s husband, who she married in 2005, fell seriously ill with the disease in March 2020 and spent 184 days in and out of intensive care. In an update, Kate said the family are hoping his condition improves as he currently undergoes further treatment.
She said of his latest hospital trip: “It’s not an emergency thing, it’s not a dramatic rush back into intensive care thank goodness – it’s something that started last year that we hope will lead to improvement. I’ve managed to get it in before the end of the year. It’s something we were trying to do in the summer but you know there are referrals and time and all of those things.”
Due to his current situation, Kate went on to say the “practical solution” for Christmas this year is to stay at home. “It’s quite challenging for Derek to travel,” she told OK! Magazine.
“So it’s easier for people to come to us, which means they have to suffer my cooking!” Kate’s family’s festivities will last several days with the help of her parents Marilyn and Gordon.
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She added: “We’ll just get as much of the family, the Drapers and the Garraways, together – even if it’s not all on one day.” The presenter’s latest interview comes after she admitted Derek was “living in the world of the unknown”.
Speaking on the Emotionally Speaking podcast with host Peter Leonard, Kate shared: “When he wakes up in the morning it is heartbreaking because it feels as though you are watching someone who may have been inhabiting his old life in his dreams, and then he wakes up and you see the cloud descend of the battle he has ahead.”
Reflecting on his health as a whole, she continued: “If you look back, there is some progress, he has [said] more words now and his voice is stronger,” adding that at times she will hear “a little bit of a Chorley accent”.
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Kate went on to say that his brain, which was once “his allay and friend” was also now his “enemy”. “I think he’s had a big emotional struggle. One of the challenges with Derek is we’ve never felt like he is safe, so every infection and rush back to hospital might be the moment he is taken from us,” she added.
“We are still hopeful he will improve but we have no clear timeline on this.”
On Heart Radio earlier this month, the mother-of-two also went on to praise their children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 14, for the way they have handled the situation. “He does come alive and you can see him kind of trying to be the old Dad as much as he can, trying to make them laugh, trying to do different things,” she added.
Kate went on to liken his health woes to a “rollercoaster” but vowed to never give up hope as she focuses on the positives.
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