KATE Garraway fought back tears as she recalled staying up all night on the phone to her seriously ill husband Derek Draper.
The Good Morning Britain host opened up about her upcoming documentary, Find Derek, on Tuesday as she spoke about her husbands battle with Covid.
Kate spoke about the night last November where her barely conscious husband said he “can’t go on” – just hours before she presented Good Morning Britain.
Derek, 53, had spent months in intensive care after coronavirus ravaged his body, causing his liver, kidneys and heart to fail.
She told Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard: “There is a moment in the documentary that I think is tough for people to watch and that is the moment where he feels like he can’t go on.
“And I managed to record that moment. Actually, it was quite a long period of that, in truth. That particular moment was actually a night where I then came in here and was on air the next morning.
“It started late at night and I didn’t want to come off the facetime, I wanted to stay with him and say, ‘I’m still here, I’m still here, I’m still here’. So we kept going through the night.
“And then in the car on the way to work, I asked, ‘can you put Good Morning Britain on in there so he can see that and doesn’t feel abandoned’.”
She continued: “What was interesting about that point and why I decided to include it, because it obviously is him on a very low emotional ebb. So you have to think very carefully about whether he wanted that to be shown.
“But why I wanted to include it is because anybody would feel where they’ve been trapped inside a body and mind that’s not letting them communicate but they’re fighting against physical pain and discomfort. Anyone would feel that way.
“I think it was just important to show that is going to effect you whatever degree you’ve got it. It’s going to effect everybody.”
Kate and Derek share kids Darcey, 15, and Billy, 11.
The Smooth Radio DJ said her kids are coping “tremendously well” and credits them as “fundamentally extraordinary”.
Speaking about whether they’ve seen the documentary, Kate said: “They are fundamentally extraordinary.
“But I think they’ve coped tremendously well. I think speaking to your seriously ill dad on facetime is amazing.
“They’ve both seen it. I was comforted by the fact that, a) they have seen a lot of the things that will be a shock to people, and Billy said I can’t believe they showed the bit on the trampoline before I knew how to do a backflip.
She added: “It is a credit to Derek. Derek has filled them with so much love.”
Kate also revealed Derek has “regressed” since January – which she thinks is due to not being able to visit him in the current restrictions.
