Colleague Emma: “Amazing Kate has a long, difficult journey ahead”
❛ SHE CAN’T FULLY GRIEVE AND CAN’T FULLY HOPE – SHE’S STUCK IN BETWEEN ❜
After Kate Garraway bravely made an appearance on Good Morning Britain to update fans on her husband Derek – who has been fighting for his life since March because of coronavirus – Emma Kenny reveals how the mum of two is coping
In an emotional live segment on Good Morning Britain ( GMB) last Friday,
Kate Garraway, who shares Darcey, 14, and William, ten, with psychotherapist Derek, 52, revealed he was free of coronavirus but unresponsive, and she doesn’t know if he will ever fully recover – saying they needed just one more “miracle” so that “he could make that next step.”
DAMAGE
Kate, 53 – who has been married to Derek for 14 years – welled up as she said, “He has fought the most extraordinary battle, the fact that he’s still here and holding on… He is now COVID-free, he has tested negative, the fight with the virus is over, but it’s wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don’t know if he can recover from that.”
There was an outpouring of support from fans online, many of whom said they cried along with the news host, saying, “I had tears for her today. Wishing Kate, Derek’s family and of course Derek all the love and best wishes in the world,” and, “I watched this interview and it made me cry as my heart was breaking for Kate. She was so brave sharing her story with everyone.
I am praying that Derek and everyone else going through this recovers real soon.”
Closer’s psychological therapist, Emma Kenny, who has known Kate since they first worked together on GMB’s predecessor Daybreak in 2011, says her “amazingly caring and genuine” friend will have felt “immense inner agony” doing the interview – but would have felt a sense of responsibility to use her public platform to show solidarity with people who are in similar situations.
Emma adds, “Kate’s great quality is that she is honest and an open book – she is a person who has spent her life telling and sharing stories as a journalist, to get stuff out there so it can help or educate others. She is doing an amazing job in handling this. She is a brilliant mum and wife – they are all so close and she has such a strong and loving relationship with Derek, so she will be missing him terribly.”
WEDDING VOWS
Derek and Kate met in 2004 after being introduced by a mutual friend, and married a year later – and had been planning to renew their wedding vows at the end of this summer.
Shortly before Derek – who didn’t show the typical cough and fever symptoms of COVID-19, rather a “splitting headache” followed by breathing difficulties, and has no underlying health problems – was diagnosed, Kate said, “The wedding is something wonderful to look forward to when all this is over. That’s what we’re trying to do – think of all the good things.”
During her GMB interview
last week, Kate – who continued the Thursday Clap for Carers to honour the NHS staff caring for her husband, despite its official end the week before – touchingly revealed that, before going into hospital, Derek had thanked her for saving his life by marrying him, and told their children they were the best kids he could have wished for.
CHALLENGING
She added, “Derek knows
I love him and he loves me.
I am having to find new ways of staying strong every day for Darcey and Billy, as I know Derek would want me to. It’s not easy... I couldn’t be prouder of how Darcey and Billy have coped with these past two horrific months for our family – always finding ways of lifting our spirits and staying strong even when they can see me wobbling.”
Emma continues, “Derek has been very unwell and in a coma for a very long time. If he does come round, Kate will have been told by doctors that there will still be a long journey ahead for his full recovery. So for her, it’s not just dealing with the feelings of being in limbo and at a loss – she’s all of a sudden home alone with two children and trying to be there for him – but it’s also unique because, even though he is still alive, it’s not in the way she knew.
“It’s really challenging, because she can’t fully grieve and she can’t fully hope – she is stuck somewhere in between. As humans, that causes more pain, because we cope better when we have an outcome we can understand.”