Best pal Clare: “Kate’s new normal is bittersweet – there’s sadness and guilt”
TV presenter Clare Nasir tells Closer that Kate Garraway has been left with mixed emotions since her still extremely ill husband Derek Draper has returned home
She’s endured a living nightmare since last March, after her husband Derek Draper caught Covid-19 and was left fighting for survival. Seventeen months on, Kate Garraway is now trying to navigate life with Derek at home needing roundthe-clock care, as well as raising two children and working full time.
But Kate, 54, was able to enjoy a rare night of normality last week when she and children Darcey, 15, and Billy, 12, headed to the theatre for a night out – something they hadn’t been able to do since before the pandemic hit.
Husband-and-father Derek, 53 – who has had one of the worst infections of any surviving Covid-19 patient in the world – remained at home in North London, where he has a 24-hour team of carers looking after him.
On the evening, Kate posted “The first time the kids and I have been out to something other than school or work since Derek got sick. It was a magic show we were supposed to be heading to when he was rushed into hospital – and we felt strange that we were going out to one when he isn’t ready to yet.”
And Kate’s best pal and TV presenter Clare Nasir tells Closer that, although the night out was a well-deserved experience for Kate, she felt torn during the evening.
OLD TIMES
Clare, 51, says, “Kate has been incredible throughout this – even more so since Derek has been home. She now basically does four jobs – presenter, mum, wife and carer. She’s on the go all the time, and has been physically and mentally pushed to the extreme this last year and a half. So a chance to get out to the theatre – something she and the kids love – was wonderful for her.
“However, it was bittersweet, as Kate can never switch off from
what’s happening. I know she would have had a hotline to the house at all times and her focus would have been on Derek. I think that, while she loved seeing the kids happy and having fun like old times, there was sadness that their dad couldn’t be there, as he loves that sort of thing, and guilt – although, of course, she shouldn’t have felt that. But it’s the nature of who she is – the whole thing is on her mind at all times. The night out was very much an exception and a special occasion – it won’t be the norm because, sadly, it just can’t be.”
Derek was admitted into hospital in March 2020 with coronavirus. He then spent the following months in intensive care, facing multiple brushes with death, losing eight stone, and having his lungs ravaged by the virus.
Kate has candidly spoken about Derek’s time in hospital – sharing the heart-wrenching moments such as when he uttered his first word, “pain”, and that, while she has been told he is unlikely to ever fully get better, he will be able to partially recover and one day hold a hairbrush on his own.
She hit rock bottom in January this year when she was unable to visit her husband in hospital due to the third lockdown, but fought for him to be transferred to their family home.
In preparation for his return, Kate organised a number of renovations – including making their home wheelchair accessible with a lift and giving Derek a wet room, which she decorated in his favourite art-deco style – and arranged round-theclock care from nurses to assist him.
❛ THEY ARE ADAPTING, BUT NOT ACCEPTING LIFE AS A FAMILY OF THREE ❜
UPHILL BATTLE
Clare previously revealed Kate had hoped that Derek’s return home would encourage progress, as she noticed how he responded to her and seemed to be doing better when she regularly visited him in hospital.
And Clare now says that, while his condition is stable, there’s still a long way to go.
“Derek is on a level right now – he has stabilised and isn’t getting worse but he still has a very steep uphill battle. Kate believes he’s definitely in a better place for being at home, because he’s surrounded by love, familiarity and his family. While he may not be able to be involved or have a conversation, he can sit watching Billy play Lego and Kate puts movies on for them to watch. That may not be improving his physical state, but it is definitely improving his mental state.
“Right now, everyone’s just living in the moment, taking things slowly, and not worrying about next week or next month or next year. There are steps forward but also steps back. I think it’s a blessing that Kate doesn’t know what’s around the corner– if she’d known in March last year that she’d be here now, I don’t know whether she’d have coped. But she has and she’s taking each day as it comes.
“Their new normal is really bittersweet. They are adapting, but they are not for one second accepting that this ‘new normal’ is as a family of three – Derek is still at the forefront of all of their lives.”
By Lily Smith