Kate Garraway reveals she hasn’t been able to visit ailing husband Derek Draper since Christmas

Kate Garraway admits she hasn’t seen ailing husband Derek Draper since Christmas as he continues his slow recovery from COVID-19. 

The Good Morning Britain presenter has been a constant by Derek’s side following his hospitalisation with the potentially deadly virus in March 2020. 

Appearing on Thursday’s edition of the show, Kate, 53, revealed she hadn’t seen her husband in almost two months following a surge in infections, and admitted her ITV employers had given her leave after she found herself struggling to cope. 

Struggle: Kate Garraway admits she hasn’t seen ailing husband Derek Draper since Christmas as he continues his slow recovery from COVID-19

She said: ‘I’ve taken some time off; very kindly ITV have given me some time off, I hadn’t been feeling very well, I think it might have been one of those things where chickens had come home to roost after a long year that we’ve all had haven’t we.

‘I took some holiday leave, at home because I know holidays are controversial, literally within the four walls of my home, had a lot of sleep and a bit of medicine and feeling much better.’ 

Kate has been unable to see Derek due to new restrictions introduced during the third lockdown, which bans any visitors on the ward where he is recovering. 

Referring to Derek, she added: ‘I haven’t been able to see him, I haven’t seen him since Christmas. 

Supportive: The Good Morning Britain presenter has been a constant by Derek’s side following his hospitalisation with the potentially deadly virus in April 2020

‘He’s back in a situation now looking at strangers in masks, I think that’s a situation for everybody whose got someone they love in hospital at the moment it’s not unique to him.

‘It’s tough, it’s also the same for people in care homes. When you’re someone like him who is dealing with unconsciousness problems and trying to emerge, I can’t help but fear that it’s not helpful. There is no end in sight to that and that’s really tough.’

Kate also revealed she was keen to discuss the ongoing health crisis with Britain’s Health Secretary, a guest on the show later that morning.  

Distance: Appearing on Thursday’s edition of the show, Kate, 53, revealed she hadn’t seen her husband in almost two months following a surge in infections

She said: ‘We’ve got Matt Hancock coming on the show a little bit later on, I haven’t spoken to him since Derek got sick and there’s lots of things to ask, but there’s no one to blame here it’s the situation we’re all in.’

In September, Derek passed the grim milestone of becoming the longest patient battling coronavirus in hospital in the UK, with doctors telling Kate that Derek’s infection was the ‘highest they had seen in a patient who had lived’. 

Reflecting on her last hospital visit with their two children Darcey, 14 and William, 11 in December, Kate admitted the family reunion was ‘heightened with emotion’ because they saw how Derek was ‘very changed’ by his battle with the virus.  

Stricken: In September, Derek passed the grim milestone of becoming the longest patient battling coronavirus in hospital in the UK (pictured with Kate and their two children)

‘It was very heightened with emotion, because he’s very changed,’ she told viewers earlier this month. 

‘So all the routines that we’d normally do, it was one of those moments that it was so wonderful but also it amplified how sad everything was. And how different it is. 

‘But it was still fantastic, and we’re very grateful to have had that opportunity.’

The presenter also spoke to co-hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about her upcoming book, The Power Of Hope, which will detail the last year of her family’s life. 

She said: ‘It’s been a strange time, I’ve been a bit low since Christmas – physically low, I felt physically at the end of my tether and had to regroup a bit. 

‘Long battle’: Kate had previously been told her husband Derek may ‘never come out of a coma’ amid his ongoing battle against coronavirus (pictured in December 2019) 

‘This week, a friend of mine’s mother-in-law, who is 51 – younger than me – died from COVID. She got it at Christmas, it went down very quickly and she died, I just thought I can’t believe that here we are so far on.’

While Derek no longer has coronavirus, the disease has left him suffering from multiple health conditions including diabetes and holes in his heart and lungs 

‘Derek’s still ravaged from the effects of COVID from way back in March, his recovery is incredibly uncertain,’ she added. 

‘I’m trying to look for new things and new ways and talking to doctors about what we can do for him meanwhile people are still dying in extraordinary numbers – people that aren’t older and haven’t got underlying conditions, it’s unbearable.’ 

In August, Kate revealed she was writing a self-help book but explained that she was given the deal before Derek’s illness and was tweaking the book to include ‘insights’ from the ordeal. 

Derek  has regained minimal consciousness from his medically induced coma and while he has not been speaking, he heartbreakingly mouthed the word ‘pain’ in October last year. 

Speaking on the 5 Years Time podcast in January, Kate confessed that after months of uncertainty, she is still unsure if Derek will recover, but is continuing to hold out hope.

Sad: Reflecting on her last hospital visit with their two children Darcey, 14 and William, 11 in December, Kate admitted the family reunion was ‘heightened with emotion’

She explained: ‘It’s been really tough for us. Derek got really sick in the beginning of March…

‘Even though we’re hoping he can recover, it’s taking a very, very long time. We don’t know how much he can recover. So that’s impacted on us obviously dramatically. So, it’s been really difficult.’

Revealing that she had a more positive outlook this year, she added: ‘Everybody is hoping 2021 will bring just a bit of hope and relief.

‘The vaccine is here now, so everybody is hoping that will help COVID I think, and help us regain some normality.’

Looking ahead: Kate has noted that returning to work on GMB and hosting Smooth Radio has provided a welcome distraction amid her personal crisis

She also revealing the poignant words Piers told her in March 2020 when Derek was first hospitalised.

Her co-star had referenced a cartoon comic that now-President Joe Biden told him about after losing his son; an animation of someone asking God: ‘Why me?’, and God replying: ‘Why not?’

Kate explained that she sees that cartoon as inspirational, telling Piers and Susanna: ‘It works to inspire you with confidence, what was so powerful about taking that message on board is you don’t waste energy on the unfairness of the world, you pour it into trying to solve it.

‘I then started saying, when they told me that Derek’s chances of survival were next to nothing and will probably die… But some people were surviving it, and I thought: ‘Well, why not? Why can’t Derek survive?’ and ‘Why can’t Derek now be the one who bucks his damage and recovers?”

‘You can start to flip it to shift away the unfairness and try and take it as a positive, and think why not me be the one who comes through this?

‘I think it just takes away that grinding horror of unfairness in all situations.’

Kate also noted that returning to work on GMB and hosting Smooth Radio has provided a welcome distraction amid her personal crisis.