Kate Garraway says husband Derek Draper is ‘phenomenally fatigued’ and ‘very weak’

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life

Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Kate Garraway has shared an update on her husband Derek Draper’s recovery from Covid-19 after she was made an MBE in the New Year Honours list.

Draper was hospitalised with severe Covid in March 2020 and was placed in a medically induced coma. After waking up several months later, he was allowed home in April 2021.

In an appearance on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories last year, Garraway said the virus had “devastated” Draper’s health and had affected his digestive system, his kidneys, liver, heart and nervous system.

The long-lasting damage means that he now requires 24-hour care from Garraway and medical professionals.

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain on 4 January, the journalist said Draper is “phenomenally fatigued at the moment” and “very weak”.

She said the family had recently been to the pantomime, which had left him extremely tired.

“But he thought it was worth it. It was a special thing to be sitting there with the children, holding their hands, doing something normal, but it took everything out of him,” Garraway said.

“But he’s there looking smiley, present. The speech isn’t there but I think you can see that he’s aware that something special is happening.

In March 2021, ITV aired Finding Derek, a documentary which charted the family’s struggle while he was in hospital.

Speaking of the MBE on Tuesday, Garraway said that while she is “thrilled to bits and incredibly honoured”, she feels “very awkward”.

“But you just sort of think: ‘What? Me?’. And then you think it’s not real,” she said.

“I still didn’t quite believe it until on New Year’s Eve when I think it was announced and people started saying congratulations.

“But it’s a strange feeling, because you know, it’s things that other people get.”

She also rejected negative comments about why she had received the honour, clarifying that she had been recognised for her contribution to journalism and broadcasting.

“There have been a few comments since it was announced of people saying ‘Why has she got this? I look after my loved one’.

“I haven’t got it for looking after Derek. It is for broadcasting and I think also charity work. But you know there’s lots of people that you feel deserve it more. So it’s a strange feeling.”