My Derek knew he was home, says thrilled Kate
Husband leaves hospital after a year
IT was the emotional moment she had been waiting for during her husband’s year-long coronavirus battle.
Kate Garraway told yesterday of her joy that Derek Draper was finally able to return home from hospital to her and their two children.
The Good Morning Britain presenter said that while the 53-year-old is far from being his old self and still needs 24-hour care, doctors allowed him home on Thursday to see if being back in the family environment would help his recovery.
Former spin doctor Mr Draper has not regained his speech and remains seriously ill from the ravaging effects of Covid-19. But Miss Garraway told the ITV show he knew he was home and enjoyed an emotional reunion with their children Darcey, 15, and Billy, 11.
Mr Draper was admitted to hospital on March 30 last year and spent more than three months in a coma. Doctors who treated him say he was the most seriously ill patient they have seen survive the virus. Last month, ITV broadcast a documentary following his battle. Scenes showed Miss Garraway having work done to their north London house so that he could return.
Speaking yesterday of the decision to bring him home, she said: ‘It felt as though everything had stalled medically and, if anything, was going slightly back.’ Medics decided, ‘Let’s give this a go, get him home safely’, to see whether being in the family environment helps. Doctors looked at his cognition and consciousness and tried to think what would be the best way to improve that, she said.
‘As we pulled up [outside the house]... I saw two little faces,
Darcey and Billy, looking out the window, and I could literally see them going, “He’s here”.
‘And they ran out and ran to open the door and he immediately burst into tears and there was a lot of hugging. He absolutely knew he was home. He’s absolutely responding and aware.’ Miss Garraway said there had been ‘lovely moments’, such as setting the table for four and giving her husband one of her casseroles, which she says he loves.
‘It feels like the start of a huge chapter but a really big and important one,’ she said. ‘He can’t really move, we do need a lot of help. It is 24-hour care, it’s going to take a lot of adjustment.’
She told colleagues Ben Shephard and Ranvir Singh: ‘I haven’t really slept as you can probably tell. It does feel like the hospital has come home with me at the moment.
‘We’re hugely grateful for this level and not losing him.
‘But we really want to see if we can move forward, if we can get him speaking more, if he’s able to move more – it’s going to be very slow and a bit of a wait-and-see.’