“Kate couldn’t plan her anniversary – anything could happen”
This week, Kate Garraway and husband Derek will have been married for 16 years. Here, her best friend, TV presenter Clare Nasir, reveals the daily battles they both still face
It’s been 18 months since Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper was admitted into hospital with coronavirus, later spending months in intensive care as the virus ravaged his body, leaving him barely able to communicate, or move unaided.
He returned home 13 months later in April this year, with the Garraway family home having been completely renovated to accommodate his needs – including making their home wheelchair accessible with a lift and giving Derek a wet room. Kate also arranged round-the-clock care from nurses to assist him.
While Derek, 54, has reached crucial milestones, such as learning to talk again, his recovery continues to be a long and challenging one.
Last year, Kate and Derek – who have two children – Darcy, 15, and 12-year-old Billy – were forced apart on their 15th wedding anniversary on 10 September due to hospital visitation restrictions during lockdown. At the time, Kate revealed to her Good Morning Britain co-host Ben Shephard that not being able to see Derek was “tough” but that she was pleased to have been able to FaceTime him with the help of his nurses. She explained, “We did our best to make it special. We had him on FaceTime. We raised a glass to say happy anniversary.”
BITTERSWEET
While Kate will be able to spend the special occasion in person with Derek this year, it will be difficult because she wasn’t able to plan anything in advance due to the uncertainty of Derek’s ongoing condition.
Kate’s best pal and TV presenter Clare Nasir tells Closer that Kate is taking each day as it comes as she can’t look too far into the future.
Clare, 51, says, “Kate lives day to day with Derek because she doesn’t know what’s going to happen in 24 hours, let alone further along than that. I’m sure she’s got things she’d want to do, but she doesn’t like to tempt fate. That’s why her anniversary will be bittersweet – planning is so hard. She lives every day as it comes because something unexpected could happen at any moment with Derek’s condition and that’s what’s been happening.”
She adds, “Every now and again there’s a step that’s in the wrong direction. She’s experiencing that often, it’s not plain sailing at all. It’s complicated and it’s easy to broad brush and say, ‘Yeah, things are going in the right direction’, but actually it’s far more meandering than that.”
EMOTIONAL
Last month, Kate and her children were able to take a lastminute trip to Marbella, Spain, for seven nights with Clare and her family, plus another friend and her children. However, Derek was unable to join them, leaving both Kate and the children feeling “emotional”. She revealed on GMB, “I had a very tight window where I could get everybody to come and look after Derek so I could take the kids away. Obviously, he has nurses as well. Also, I could get somewhere where I could find friends to help us, as I think we’re all quite emotional, the three of us, about going away without him and whether that feels
ita bit strange to do.”
Clare tells Closer that originally they had arranged to go on holiday with Derek to Wales, but as the date drew nearer, it became apparent he wasn’t well enough to go.
She says, “We were meant to be going with Derek to Wales for a few days – friends in Wales had organised a house – but at the last moment we realised that was going to be totally impossible with his condition. Kate was hoping it would be OK. This is the thing about planning ahead… so in the end, his sisters and the carers stayed with him and Kate managed to get flights to Spain.
INCREDIBLE MUM
“It must have been really weird for Kate, sitting on a sunbed, thinking, ‘What am I meant to be doing next?’ She never gets any down time and she hasn’t had any for about 18 months now. The thing that came out of the holiday and the special time we spent together is that she’s such an incredible mum and those kids absolutely adore her. Despite the fact she needed to rest, she was still paddleboarding with them, going to water parks with them, watching them on the jet skis – she was there for them. It was really nice to be able to have a bit of time where, for one moment, it felt normal.”
Clare adds that although
Kate did manage to relax during the getaway, she was frequently checking in with Derek and his sisters.
She says, “She was on a hotline to Derek all the time and particularly his sisters and carers. That’s always the closest thing to her mind, wherever she is. So that’s really where we’re at, at the moment. We know that there are a lot of unknowns out there still and she’s having to cope with that every day. However, he’s a determined person who is doing everything he can to rehabilitate.”
SHE DOESN’T LIKE TO TEMPT FATE. SHE LIVES EACH DAY AS IT COMES