Kate Garraway has admitted she has been through the ‘darkest times’ while her husband Derek Draper has been in hospital recovering from coronavirus.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, 53, said while her family have been through the ‘toughest of times’, her ordeal has been helped by the kindness of others.
Derek, also 53, was admitted to hospital in late March 2020 after contracting the virus and has spent the last year recovering in intensive care.
Personal struggle: Kate Garraway has admitted she has been through the ‘darkest times’ while her husband Derek Draper has been in hospital recovering from coronavirus
The former lobbyist currently remains in a critical condition and is considered to be the longest surviving Covid-19 patient in the country.
Speaking to Hello! Magazine, Kate said: ‘In the darkest of times you can find goodness and love just when you need it most and helping each other is the only way we will get through this grimmest of times.’
She added: ‘I’ve learnt about the kindness of strangers. It has been the toughest of times for me and my family, as it has for so many others and the good wishes and sympathy from viewers and listeners has really helped.
‘To know so many people are thinking of me and sending love has given me hope and strength and I’m very grateful.’
Heartbreaking: The Good Morning Britain presenter, 53, said while her family have been through the ‘toughest of times’, her ordeal has been helped by the kindness of others
Last week, Kate revealed she is still not allowed to visit her husband due to coronavirus restrictions.
Kate spoke to boxer Frank Bruno on the show on Friday and when the sportsman said: ‘If you see your husband today, give him my regards’, Kate delivered the heartbreaking news of their distance.
She said: ‘I will do, unfortunately I’m not allowed to. Haven’t for two months. But I will try to pass that message on. That’s very kind.’
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’.
After she alerted Frank to the news, he responded: ‘Sorry. Please do [pass on] from my heart. No problem’, in an emotional display of support.
Kate has been candid about Derek’s battle and the strife she has faced during his prolonged stint in hospital, during which he has slipped in and out of a coma.
The doting mother-of-two has been at her partner’s side constantly since he was first hospitalised with the potentially deadly virus in March 2020.
Earlier in the week, she said to her co-host Ben Shephard: ‘Well, I haven’t been able to see him, Ben. I haven’t seen him since Christmas, which of course means he’s back into a situation where he’s looking at strangers in masks…
Appearance: Her reveal comes after boxing legend Frank Bruno sent his regards to Derek
‘And I think that’s the situation for everybody, they’ve got somebody in the hospital at the moment, it’s not unique. It’s tough…
‘It’s also the same for people in care homes. And when you’re someone like him who is dealing with a consciousness problem and trying to emerge, I can’t help but fear it’s not helpful.’
Kate recently explained that she decided to take some time off from GMB after ‘not feeling well’ following a ‘long year’. 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?
Sad: Reflecting on her last hospital visit with their two children Darcey, 14 and William, 11, (pictured in February 2019), Kate admitted the family reunion was ‘heightened with emotion’
Heartache: Kate recently explained that she decided to take some time off from GMB after ‘not feeling well’ following a ‘long year’. 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 took some holiday leave, at home because I know holidays are controversial, literally within the four walls of my home. I had a lot of sleep and a bit of medicine and feeling much better.’
Kate admitted she is finding her current situation ‘really tough’ because it feels like there is ‘no end in sight’.
She explained: ‘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.’
Pained: Earlier in the week, she said to her co-host Ben Shephard: ‘Well, I haven’t been able to see him, Ben. I haven’t seen him since Christmas, which of course means he’s back into a situation where he’s looking at strangers in masks’
Reflecting on her last hospital visit with their two children Darcey, 14 and William, 11 in December, she admitted the family reunion was ‘heightened with emotion’ because they saw how Derek had been ravaged by the virus.
‘It was very heightened with emotion, because he’s very changed,’ she told viewers.
‘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.’
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.
During one of her darkest moments Kate was told her husband may ‘never come out of a coma’ amid his ongoing battle.
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.
Kate noted that returning to work on GMB and hosting Smooth Radio has provided a welcome distraction amid her personal crisis.