Kate’s joy and pain: Derek’s bittersweet homecoming
It was the moment Kate Garraway and her children had been waiting for – but now Derek Draper is home, what does the future look like for the family?
After so long apart, and so many months wishing to be reunited, it must have been quite an incredible moment.
Yes, Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway’s sick husband, Derek Draper, finally returned to their family home in London, after a year in hospital.
And the TV host said her man was so overwhelmed with emotion, that when he got there, he ‘burst into tears’.
Speaking on GMB after
Derek’s first weekend home, Kate told viewers the kids were ‘loving’ having their dad back – after six months without seeing him: ‘They are excited and overwhelmed.’
The former political lobbyist, 53, was admitted to hospital last March with Covid-19, before being placed in a coma.
Now, after 12 long months away from his family, he has been reunited with Kate and their children, Darcey, 15 and Billy, 11.
Speaking on GMB, the emotional host revealed that the kids had rushed down the stairs for the longed-for reunion.
‘As we pulled up, I could see two little faces of Darcey and Billy looking out the window and I could see Billy say, “He’s here!” and they sort of ran out and ran forward.
‘He immediately burst into tears, there was a lot of hugging and we got him inside. He absolutely knew he was home.’
Though Derek has recovered from Covid, his body has been ravaged by the virus. Now off all machines and breathing apparatus, he is receiving 24-hour care at the couple’s home, which Kate has adapted so it will be more accessible for her husband, who still needs a stretcher or wheelchair.
Kate, who revealed on his return that Derek’s health ‘has plateaued’, has installed a ramp outside their property, a lift to the garden, and converted their garage into a wet room (with Derek’s favourite tiles). She has said she’ll be sleeping downstairs in a ‘put-me-up bed’ so that she can be close to him.
There is also an alarm system in place for Derek to call if he needs something, and 24-hour care staff living with them.
After so much time immobile, Derek has suffered significant muscle wastage, so professionals will work with him to ensure he builds up strength. Psychologically, a year in intensive care is a long time for anyone – so there will be much emotional recovery involved, too.
Kate explained that the big move back home was, hopefully, the next crucial step.
‘I think anybody whose husband or loved one has been in hospital for a long time, what you want is for them to be home. That’s what you’re absolutely wanting to happen,’ she said.
‘It’s been a lot of discussions, even before Christmas, about what is the best way to go, because it’s kind of balancing… it’s a very unique situation, Derek’s situation.
‘It’s looking at his cognition and his consciousness and trying to think about what would be the best way to improve that.
‘There have been improvements […] but it felt as though everything had stalled medically and if anything, was going slightly back.’
The teary presenter admitted that, initially, it did feel ‘a little bit like the hospital has come home with me’, as there were so many medical professionals making
‘There is a tomorrow that I believe in’
sure everything was safely in place for Derek – but admitted there had already been ‘so many little moments’ of joy, at simply having him home.
‘I’ve been saying to him all the time during the coma, “When you get home, you can have one of my casseroles” – and he can swallow a bit now.
‘So, I said “Right, let’s see if I can get you somehow around a table with all four of us”. And as I was laying out the plates, I realised I was laying out four.
‘ We weren’t all sitting around the table, we constructed a version of it. He can’t really move. We do need a lot of help.’
But Kate – who confessed she’d had little sleep in the initial days after Derek’s return, feels like this is the start of a ‘huge, important’ chapter for the family.
‘ We’ve got to stay positive and have hope. We’ll get there. He’s here!’
Fans and colleagues couldn’t contain their delight at the news. Kate’s pal, fellow GMB presenter Ranvir Singh, spoke for many when she tweeted that the programme ‘and the whole country’ was ‘thrilled’ for Kate.
Of course, life with Derek will look very different to what it was before he fell ill – he won’t be the hands-on dad, playing with the kids in the garden. Right now, sadly, he can barely move or speak independently.
Indeed, Kate opened up recently over her fears that she could end up giving up her GMB job, to become his full-time carer, admitting she ‘fears the reality’ of a ‘different dynamic’ to their relationship.
There is little doubt, the road ahead will be tough – Derek will be working with physiotherapists and speech therapists as part of his recovery.
And yet Kate’s astounding positivity, through it all, shines through.
In last month’s moving ITV documentary, Finding Derek, asked how tomorrow looks for her family, she replied, simply, ‘I just don’t know, but there is a tomorrow that I believe in.’
We wish Kate and the family all the best, for that tomorrow.