TV’s Kate says hope is key to survival
BROADCASTER Kate Garraway is writing a book about the “raw and emotional” story of her husband Derek Draper’s fight against Covid-19 and the “devastating impact” on him and their family. The Power Of Hope will be released in April and 53-year-old Kate said: “While my experience of Covid is an extraordinary one, I am only too aware that this virus has impacted every single one of us. We are all going through this, to a greater or lesser degree. “By telling the story of Derek’s illness and how it has altered our lives, I hope to be able to reach out to others who are suffering. If writing about my experience of facing fear, coping day-to-day with an uncertain future and finding strength for the sake of my kids can, in some way, help another who is feeling lost or in despair, it will mean a lot.” As well as recounting how the illness took hold of their lives, Kate will write about how she is coping with the uncertainty of their future, how she has found strength in community and how she strives to hold on to hope, even at the darkest of times. Speaking back in November when husband Derek, who is still in hospital, mouthed his first word in six months, Kate spoke of the importance of hope but also how there was a long road of recovery ahead. She said: “I think the power of hope is huge, but you’re also constantly trying to think, ‘At what point do you have to start being real?’ and, ‘When is hope still real?’ “Now what I have to be careful of, in terms of the children and his family, is not running away with that and thinking, ‘OK, this is it. Within a couple of weeks he’ll be back home’, and all of that because it is still a long road to go, and we don’t know how far down that road he can come. But it is a massive, massive moment. “He’s been able to fight out of this to utter the word ‘pain’. Again, it’s horrible because I don’t want him to be feeling pain – it would have been much nicer if it had been, ‘I love you darling Kate’, ‘Say Hi to the children’, or something. “But it’s the first step. It’s a sign, I’m hoping that it’s the beginning of recovery.” ●The Power of Hope will be published in April, in hardback by Transworld Publishers. COVER STORY Kate’s new book is on sale in April