GOOD Morning Britain’s Kate Garraway admitted she might get a ‘different’ husband back from hospital.
Derek has become the longest surviving Covid-19 inpatient in the UK and a new documentary, Kate Garraway: Finding Derek, has offered an intimate insight into Kate’s experience, and that of her husband Derek Draper.
As Derek slowly recovers from many illnesses, Kate reflected on how different he might be whenever he makes it home, both because his time in hospital will have affected his mental health and because Covid may have impacted his cognitive ability.
“There’s been times where I’ve thought: ‘Am I actually grieving for the person I’m married to or am I fighting to hold onto that person?’,” Kate said in the documentary.
When asked how she would cope if he’s “not her Derek” once he is out of hospital, she admitted things would probably not go back to normal.
“Well, he is still Derek, he is still him… he is still that person that you love, but he will behave differently and will be physically different,” Kate explained.
“Will I be okay? I wont be delighted because I wouldn’t wish that on him, very tough on us both, but he is for better or worse…”
Kate added: “It might be a rather beautiful thing, trying to look at it as a rather beautiful thing. I feel as though we might have to fall in love again – find out who each other are now a little bit.”
Kate and Derek‘s heartbreaking documentary ended with the Covid sufferer telling his devoted wife “I love you, forever and a day”.
Derek, 53, contracted covid-19 last March and remains in hospital to this day, having spent much of the past year in a coma.
Kate, 53, has been documenting Derek’s long, slow recovery in Finding Derek after coronavirus ravaged his body, causing his liver, kidneys and heart to fail.
In tonight’s programme, the moment Derek spoke in a clear and strong voice after months of being in a coma left viewers weeping.
He told Kate: “Thank you. I love you, forever and a day.”
Kate’s documentary tracks Derek’s fight for his life and how they plan to live their life afterwards.
As she reflected on the type of care her husband will need when he leaves hospital, Kate adds: “The truth is as much as I may think I have the answers all the time, Derek doesn’t need me. I’m not the person to care for him.
“I obviously will be there 100% completely if Derek needs me, but what he needs is specialist, professional, medical support ongoing – because there is a good chance that he can improve but we need to make sure the support is there now.”
On March 20, 2021 Kate said her seriously-ill husband Derek Draper’s brain is “no longer his friend”.
Speaking on The One Show, Kate explained: “He is somebody who both in this time before I knew him, when he was in politics, and also since in all the work he has done in mental health, because that’s his thing now.
“His brain has always been his best friend and he’s lived on his wits and now suddenly his brain – as we all know controls his body – is no longer his friend and he’s fighting to get out.”
Kate Garraway: Finding Derek will be available to watch on ITV Hub.
