Kate Garraway’s Husband Returns Home After Year Long Covid Battle

Kate Garraway’s husband, Derek Draper, has finally returned home after spending over a year in hospital battling Covid-19.

The former political adviser, aged 53, was admitted to hospital in March last year after suffering from coronavirus symptoms. He was later put into a coma.

Television presenter Garraway said her husband was responding well to being back at home, but was yet to regain full speech. It was an emotional moment for everyone, as she and her family all burst into tears when he arrived home.

Garraway spoke about it with her colleagues on Good Morning Britain. She told them how she could see the happiness on her children’s faces as the car pulled up. They couldn’t believe that their dad was finally home. They ran out to meet him, opened the door, and he immediately started crying. There was a lot of hugging as they bought him inside the house. She says, “he absolutely knew he was home”.

Although Mr Draper has been taken off all support machines and breathing apparatus, he still needs full time care. Their home in north London has recently been adapted to accommodate it.

At the moment, Mr Draper is unable to move well and needs 24 hour care, but the family are receiving plenty of much needed help. His recovery involves working with a number of healthcare professionals, including physiotherapists and speech therapists. This has led Garraway to comment that it feels a bit like the hospital has come home with them.

Although the news was “amazing”, Garraway says she is trying to balance her emotions as she prepares for what comes next. The process will take a lot of adjusting to, and will require getting used to a whole new team of people.

‘He can show emotion’

The documentary, Finding Derek, was broadcast on ITV last month. It explored Draper’s illness and how it effected their two children – 15 year old daughter Darcey, and 11 year old son Billy.

The program was described as “powerful, poignant and admirably candid”. A memorable scene saw Garraway recall the moment she was told by a doctor that her husband was the most seriously ill person they had seen who remained alive.

There have been improvements in Mr Drapers condition since the filming of the documentary. The family have set up a dinner table, so he can re-join them. He is using more words, and he can do more things. He has also got some more movement in his hands, and he can show emotion.

Making the right decision

Due to the strict Covid restrictions in place, Garraway says it was difficult because the family and herself could not visit. In addition, some of the therapeutic things she wanted to do to help him move forward couldn’t happen. So they made a decision to give it a go and get him home safely.

Garraway plans to publish a book, entitled The Power Of Hope, telling the emotional story of her husband’s illness.

She thinks that all anybody whose husband or loved one has been in hospital for a long time wants, is for them to come home. But there is a lot to discuss and think about to make sure it is done in the right way. It didn’t help that Derek’s situation was so unique.

The doctors made it very clear they would not allow him to return home if there was any risk to his health.

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