Love Dramas
She recently revealed she was able to see her husband in person for the first time in three months after he was rushed to intensive care suffering with the coronavirus, and Kate Garraway was given another glimmer of hope last week as Derek Draper appeared to make further progress in his recovery.
Nurses said psychotherapist Derek looked “focused and engaged” when they switched on an episode of Good Morning Britain in his hospital room while Kate was presenting.
Kate, 53, who returned to her role as co-host alongside Ben Shephard earlier this month, said hospital staff had tuned in to the breakfast show to try to stimulate a response from Derek.
She said, “He is stable and, actually, yesterday I spoke to the nurses and they said they had put Good Morning Britain on and they felt, because his eyes are open, he looked focused and engaged on it.” And Kate admitted she found the news “very emotional”.
“We don’t know whether it’s the movement of the light, or whether it’s the familiar voice. So, good morning, Derek, if you are watching. We’re all sending you lots of love, everyone here is sending you lots of love.”
Kate said Derek – who she married in 2005 and with whom she shares daughter Darcey, 14, and son Billy, 11 – had endured a “tough week” following “big falls” in his blood pressure and swelling in his legs.
Derek was rushed to hospital in April after feeling unwell and struggling to breathe. Talking about the day Derek had been taken into hospital, Kate revealed, “He said, ‘I don’t feel well, I’ve got a splitting headache, numbing in my hand and I’m struggling to breathe.’ I’d tried to get through on 111, so I thought, ‘I’m going to call [ GMB expert] Dr Hilary’, and he talked to Derek and did some breathing tests to
test capacity, and I’ll never forget it – he said, ‘Put me back on to Kate. I think you need to call an ambulance.’ So I said, ‘OK’.”
Derek was taken into intensive care where he remained in a coma for ten weeks. Talking about the severity of his infection, Kate explained,
“There’s an enzyme the liver produces which goes up when you’re fighting infection – healthy, it would be under 10; if it goes up to 200, then you’re really sick. When Derek was admitted to the second hospital, he was at 1,286 – he was off the scale with infection.”
She added, “His lungs were solid and nobody thought he’d live. So it’s just extraordinary that he’s still here, I’m so proud of him and, most of all, the doctors and nurses around him are just incredible.”