Kate Garraway says she doesn’t want to ‘go on about’ husband Derek Draper’s health
‘You only really know what it feels like until you’re there,’ presenter said
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Your support makes all the difference.Kate Garraway has admitted that she feels conscious of people becoming“fed up” by her talking about her husband Derek Draper’s health struggles.
Draper, a former political lobbyist, contracted Covid in March 2020 and was placed in a medically induced coma for several months.
Since then, he has required around-the-clock care, provided by Garraway and a team of healthcare professionals.
The Good Morning Britain presenter appeared with co-anchor Ben Shephard on Friday’s (2 December) edition of Lorraine.
They featured to discuss the morning programme’s conversation campaign, 1 Million Minutes, which encourages people to pledge their time to help the fight against loneliness.
During the discussion, host Lorraine Kelly asked Garraway how Draper was doing after he returned to hospital in October, due to contracting sepsis for a second time.
Garraway replied that he had returned home after what she described as a “long battle”.
“I think it's very tough on him, and the people around me,” she added.
The GMB presenter then went on to mention her own anxieties about discussing his health issues frequently.
“The thing I’ve been really aware of is people saying, ‘Oh she’s talking about that again’,” she said.
Quickly, Kelly jumped in to note that she asked Garraway to talk about it, so shouldn’t feel awkward for doing so.
Garraway then continued: “I don’t want to go on about it because what I’ve learnt is you only really know what it feels like until you’re there. You imagine it, but you don’t know.
“I now get contacted every day, which makes me feel less isolated, by, genuinely, thousands of people saying, ‘Please say more because we are struggling’.”
In October, Garraway won her second consecutive National Television Award for Best Authored Documentary for her film, Caring for Derek. It followed 2021’s film, Finding Derek, about living with and being a carer for someone with ongoing health issues.
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