Kate Garraway‘s husband is fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack.
It comes after the presenter revealed her family are ‘adjusting to a new normal’ as her husband Derek Draper battles to get better.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, 56, recently shared a ‘promising’ update on Derek’s health, hoping it could lead to an improvement while speaking to OK! magazine.
Derek, also 56, has been in and out of hospital after he fell seriously ill with coronavirus at the very start of the pandemic in March 2020, and was left with lasting damage to his organs.
Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator and he was in hospital for 13 months before being discharged in April 2021.
However, he has readmitted several times with numerous health issues, including kidney failure, brain inflammation and liver damage.
Kate Garraway ‘s husband is fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack
Kate Garraway, 56, has admitted that her family are ‘adjusting to a new normal’ as her husband Derek Draper battles to get better
Speaking to the publication, Kate shared: ‘Derek’s in hospital having some treatment. It’s not an emergency thing, it’s not a dramatic rush back into intensive care, thank goodness. It’s something that started last year that we hope will lead to improvement.
‘I’ve managed to get it in before the end of the year. It’s something we were trying to do in the summer, but there are referrals and time and all of those things.
‘Every day we wait and see. There isn’t a dramatic improvement but touch wood things haven’t gone backwards either. So we’re just adjusting to a new normal.’
While Kate tries to stay as positive as she can, she also feels like Derek is never ‘safe’.
She shared the ‘heartbreak’ she feels over Derek’s health while on new podcast Emotionally Speaking with host Peter Leonard.
She explained: ‘He is living in the world of the unknown, when he wakes u pin the morning it is heartbreaking because it feels as though you are watching someone who may have been inhabiting his old life in his dreams and then he wakes up and you see the cloud descend of the battle he has ahead.
‘But if you look back, there is some progress, he has more words now and his voice is stronger. You occasionally get a little bit of a Chorley accent in there so it feels like he is more present, but he still can’t sit up without assistant and his life isn’t his own.
‘His brain had always been his allay and friend, but now it is his enemy. I think he’s had a big emotional struggle.
Derek, 56, has been in and out of hospital after he fell seriously ill with coronavirus at the very start of the pandemic in March 2020, and was left with lasting damage to his organs (pictured together in 2019)
Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator and he was in hospital for 13 months before being discharged in April 2021. However, he has readmitted several times with numerous health issues, including kidney failure, brain inflammation and liver damage
Speaking to OK! magazine, Kate shared: ‘Derek’s in hospital having some treatment. It’s not an emergency thing, it’s not a dramatic rush back into intensive care, thank goodness. It’s something that started last year that we hope will lead to improvement.’
She added: ‘Every day we wait and see. There isn’t a dramatic improvement but touch wood things haven’t gone backwards either. So we’re just adjusting to a new normal.’ (pictured with Kate’s parents Marilyn and Gordon when she received her MBE)
Kate added: ‘One of the challenges with Derek is we’ve never felt like he is safe, so every infection and rush back to hospital might be the moment he is taken from us. We are still hopeful he will improve but we have no clear timeline on this.
It comes after Kate appeared on Heart Breakfast in September alongside Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston where she spoke about her husband’s health problems and how it impacts the family.
Kate and Derek share daughter Darcey, 17, and son William, 14.
Jamie asked: ‘How are the kids feeling, that adjustment must be tricky especially at their age?’
Kate replied: ‘Well, yeah I think it’s been quite interesting. I think some of what I’ve been writing about in the book, is the fact that you have adrenaline, don’t you, when something dramatic happens.
‘I talk about what I think is adrenaline, it’s a bit of a frenemy. One level it’s fantastic, it gets you through the crisis, and then as time goes on, it’s not great for your own health.
‘Derek himself has been living on a version of adrenaline as well. And the kids have too in their own way, so I think the last year and a half really, has been coming to terms with the fact that we’re not in a ‘one week’ ‘two week’ ‘three month’ drama.
‘We’re in something ongoing and I think weirdly, that’s how it’s felt for everybody beyond the pandemic.
Kate spoke about how her and Derek’s daughter Darcey, 17, and son William, 14, are dealing with their father’s illness, gushing that they were ‘navigating it brilliantly’ (pictured in 2021)
Kate was recognised with an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for her services to broadcasting, journalism and charity
It comes after Kate appeared on Heart Breakfast in September alongside Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston where she spoke about her husband’s health problems and how it impacts the family
‘We still don’t know, just how much better Derek can get, or worse. So really every time he has a rush into hospital, we’re still in that adrenaline phase of ‘is this the moment where he could be taken from us’.
‘But also, there’s so many spikes of progression, that no one’s giving up hope that there isn’t going to be a movement forward, so it’s managing that rollercoaster. Sorry that wasn’t particularly clear.’
‘But also, there’s so many spikes of progression, that no one’s giving up hope that there isn’t going to be a movement forward. So it’s managing that rollercoaster.’
Kate has made two documentaries detailing her life as Derek battles the long-term effects of Covid-19, with both winning National Television Awards in the authored documentary category.
She was recognised with an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for her services to broadcasting, journalism and charity.
