Kate Garraway says there have been ‘lots of little positives’ since husband Derek came home
Kate Garraway has revealed there have been ‘lots of little positives’ since her husband Derek Draper returned home from hospital following his Covid battle.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, 53, said Derek, also 53, ‘remembered she needed flattery’, and recently commented on a new dress she was wearing.
Kate and her children Darcey, 15, and Billy, 11, were ‘over the moon’ earlier this month when Derek was able to return home after he spent more than a year in intensive care dealing with the after-effects of coronavirus.
Sweet: Kate Garraway says there have been ‘lots of little positives’ since her husband Derek Draper returned home – and he recently recognised she was wearing a ‘new dress’
During Thursday’s episode of GMB, Kate said she was delighted ‘on so many levels’ just days ago when he spotted she was wearing a new outfit.
When asked how everything is, she said: ‘It’s a whirligig. It’s been wonderful having Derek at home.
‘There are lots of little positives. Whether they are positives because it is genuinely helping his cognition being at home, or whether it’s just because I’m there to see the little things. Whereas I couldn’t go in before. I don’t know.
‘But it feels positive, little moments of reaction.
‘He said something the other day. I walked in just before I left to go to Smooth [Radio] and he said, ‘New dress,’ which was just amazing.
‘He remembered’: The Good Morning Britain presenter, 53, said she believes her husband ‘remembered she needed flattery’, and recently commented on her new dress (Derek pictured during documentary about his recovery, Finding Derek)
‘And it was [a new dress]. I thought that was amazing on so many levels because he recognised it, he realised and remembered that I need a lot of flattery, so there was some emotional collection there.
‘And it was just a little moment. And we’re back to the bits in between.’
Kate admitted it has been ‘quite an eye-opener’ looking after Derek, who is receiving 24-hour care since he returned home from hospital, alongside the experts.
And it has made her realise what an ‘extraordinary, overwhelming responsibility’ being a carer is. She added: ‘It is a relief [to have Derek home].
Amazing news: Kate and her children Darcey, 15, and Billy, 11, were ‘over the moon’ earlier this month when Derek was able to return home after he spent more than a year in intensive care dealing with the after-effects of coronavirus
‘They [the experts] are an extraordinary bunch of people. We all know carers are incredible, we’ve said it so much this year. But for them it’s learning about him, learning about me.
‘It’s been quite an eye-opener. We always talk about that role of caring and support in the home, how big it is, but until you’re actually at the coalface of it it’s an extraordinary, overwhelming responsibility.
‘So far so good, but I don’t want to tempt fate.’
Pleased: During Thursday’s episode of GMB, Kate said she was delighted ‘on so many levels’ just days ago when he spotted she was wearing a new outfit
Health battle: Derek was first diagnosed with coronavirus in March 2020
Derek returned home on April 7 and Kate revealed he burst into tears when he saw his kids Darcey and Billy.
She previously said: ‘As we pulled up I could see Darcey and Billy looking out of the window and they ran out and opened the door and he immediately burst into tears and there was a lot of hugging.’
Kate is said to have spent thousands transforming her home to support Derek’s ongoing recovery, including turning the couple’s living room into his new bedroom.
He will have speech and language therapy and physiotherapy at home as he continues his road to recovery.
When asked how everything is, she said: ‘It’s a whirligig. It’s been wonderful having Derek at home’ (pictured on Thursday’s episode of GMB)
Lobbyist Derek spent more than a year in intensive care but returned to the couple’s home in north London earlier this month.
She recently likened it to bringing home a newborn baby, saying after extensive planning she asked herself ‘what the heck do we do now?’.
But she stressed: ‘Its been completely overwhelming but also wonderful.’
Kate said: ‘Its been completely overwhelming but also wonderful.’
Adjustment: She likened his return home to bringing home a newborn baby, saying after extensive planning she asked herself ‘what the heck do we do now?’ Pictured in 2019
She added: ‘It was a medical reason for coming home as well as our desire and his desire to to encourage a more normal environment to stimulate his recovery and consciousness and they [the children] have been absolutely loving it.
‘Really helpful. It’s been great actually.
Kate has adapted their home to make it more accessible for her husband, who cannot move or talk on his own and still needs to be on a stretcher or wheelchair.
She has installed a ramp outside their property and a lift to the garden, as well as converting their garage into a wet room. She is now believed to be facing medical bills costing her tens of thousands.
Derek will work with physiotherapists and speech therapists as part of his recovery.
It has been confirmed that Derek is Britain’s longest surviving Covid hospital patient after he was first admitted with breathing difficulties on March 30 last year.
He was put on a ventilator and spent months in a form of coma before uttering his first word – ‘pain’ – in October last year.
The father of two’s body has been ‘universally affected’ by the condition, which means that it has targeted his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.
