Kate Garraway says husband Derek ‘is still fighting’ as she returns to GMB
Kate Garraway says husband Derek ‘is still fighting’ as she returns to GMB for the first time since sharing heartbreaking images of him battling long Covid in hospital
- Kate Garraway has returned to present ITV’s Good Morning Britain today
- Comes after sharing heartbreaking images of husband Derek Draper in hospital
- Miss Garraway said coronavirus has ‘affected some people you could argue worse than Derek because people have lost their lives and he’s still here fighting’
Kate Garraway has returned to Good Morning Britain and revealed her husband is ‘still fighting’.
The presenter joined co-host Susanna Reid on ITV’s GMB today, for the first time since sharing heartbreaking images of husband Derek Draper in hospital a year after contracting coronavirus.
She had appeared on the programme last week following the departure of her longtime friend Piers Morgan, who she said had been ‘very supportive’ during her husband’s struggle with Covid.
Mr Draper is one of 186,000 long Covid patients in Britain who suffer a range of symptoms from fatigue and aches to serious organ damage. He has also lost 8st over the course of his ordeal.
Ms Reid said it was ‘an absolute joy’ to have Miss Garraway, who has two children with her husband of fifteen years, back on the programme today.
Miss Garraway, 53, said: ‘I think it’s a moment for everybody when you realise it’s been a year we’ve been living with this.
‘Obviously back then rather hoping Derek and I would be chatting with you together with more recovery… that hasn’t been the case.’
It comes after Miss Garraway shared heartbreaking images of her husband Derek Draper fighting for his life in hospital a year after contracting Covid
‘Obviously Derek is an extreme example, we don’t want to scare people with what he’s been through but there are many other people that have got versions of it and still not enough is known about the impact of it.
‘Still when we talk about long Covid we think of breathing long-term problems or fatigue, anxiety, post-traumatic stress syndrome but it is much more widespread than that.’
Ms Reid said: ‘It has been a year of grief… it has been a year of progress in some ways too as you know, there have been some treatments, there if the vaccine programme, I often think how hard that must be for you.
Miss Garraway said: ‘Well unfortunately Derek was surfing the crest of a very grim wave.’
She adds: ‘It’s affected some people you could argue worse than Derek because people have lost their lives and he’s still here fighting.’
It comes after Miss Garraway shared heartbreaking images of her husband Derek Draper fighting for his life in hospital a year after contracting Covid.
Mr Draper is one of 186,000 long Covid patients in Britain who suffer a range of symptoms from fatigue and aches to serious organ damage. He has also lost 8st over the course of his ordeal
Miss Garraway said: ‘Well unfortunately Derek was surfing the crest of a very grim wave.’ She adds: ‘It’s affected some people you could argue worse than Derek because people have lost their lives and he’s still here fighting’
In an upcoming ITV documentary, the Good Morning Britain presenter tells of her fears for the 53-year-old’s future as he battles long Covid from an ICU bed.
Miss Garraway says on a trailer for the programme, which will air on March 23: ‘Derek is the sickest person the team of doctors have treated this year.’
‘Is he going to be able to come back or will he be alive but no longer the person he was?’
Photos are shown from the couple’s wedding day in 2005 before the screen goes blank and a message reads: ‘One year later, Derek is still in hospital.’
Mr Draper, who is the longest surviving Covid patient in the country, no longer tests positive for the virus, but it has left him with multiple health conditions including diabetes and holes in his heart and lungs.
He is one of 186,000 long Covid patients in Britain who suffer a range of symptoms from fatigue and aches to serious organ damage. He has also lost 8st over the course of his ordeal.
Miss Garraway has given emotional on-screen updates on her husband’s Covid battle over the course of the last year, and has taken some time off work to go and visit him.
In a clip of a new ITV documentary, Finding Derek, Kate Garraway, 53, says: ‘Derek is the sickest person the team of doctors have treated this year’
Miss Garraway- who shares children Darcey, 15, and William, 11, with her husband of fifteen years – admitted it is ‘shocking’ to see his current state, including his dramatic eight stone weight loss.
She revealed that on multiple occasions the hospital told her: ‘Prepare yourself, he’s going to die.’
During one incident, the TV presenter was told ‘he may have died’ and that ‘somebody will call you back,’ as she spent countless hours calling the hospital to get an answer, to no avail.
She eventually got through and discovered someone of a similar name had passed away.
But the worst was yet to come as Miss Garraway had to learn to accept the possibility that Mr Draper could be frozen indefinitely between life and death.
‘They said, ”It’s highly unlikely he will make a good recovery,” she recalled the comment from doctors while they confirmed they couldn’t rule out a ‘reasonable recovery.’
When Boris Johnson enforced a new lockdown in December, Miss Garraway wasn’t able to see her husband at all, as she revealed his health worsened ‘dramatically,’ counteracting the progress they had made.
Mr Draper no longer tests positive for the virus, but it has left him with multiple health conditions including diabetes and holes in his heart and lungs
Finding Derek will air on 23rd March, and will show Miss Garraway giving an ‘unflinching account’ on the past 12 months.
In the special one-off film, she will offer an ‘intimate insight’ into coping with the impact of Covid-19 on her family, as well as meeting survivors of the disease.
ITV said in a statement: ‘Kate offers an unflinching account of the profound effects on her family and on others as she opens up on camera for the first time on the reality of the past 12 months.
‘As Kate lays bare in the film, her family, along with many others who have suffered the effects of the virus, is now facing the reality of adjusting to a very different way of life to the one they lived before the pandemic hit.’
During one of her darkest moments Miss Garraway was told her husband may ‘never come out of a coma’ amid his ongoing battle.
