Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway has revealed her husband Derek has said his first word since going into hospital.
Kate says that Derek mouthed the word “pain” as doctors worked on his body to keep his muscles moving, after seven months of being in intensive care.
Sobbing Kate had to watch her husband’s body be manipulated by medical staff, 214 days after he was first admitted to hospital with coronavirus.
She has also revealed that he has had his tracheostomy tube removed, and he is now able to breathe without a ventilator.
Kate told The Sun: “We have had a breakthrough which was both amazing yet heartbreaking.
Kate has revealed that Derek said his first word after battling coronavirus for 214 days (Image: ITV)
“Right from the beginning, when Derek couldn’t even open his eyes, the doctors and nurses have always talked to him to be respectful, and to try to trigger a response.
“As they were shifting him, they asked if he could feel anything — not expecting a response as he hadn’t previously. But suddenly he mouthed in a whisper, ‘Pain’.
“Obviously it’s so heart-wrenching that his first word was ‘pain’, but it is a huge breakthrough because it means he has been able to connect the feeling in his body to his brain and mouth.
Derek’s heartbreaking first word was pain (Image: Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Express)
“They called me straight after and I burst into tears. The staff told me later that they were so emotional as well.
“It breaks my heart that there may have been times that he’s been in terrible pain and wasn’t able to communicate it.”
Derek was first admitted to hospital at the end of March, and was placed into a medically induced coma to try and help his body heal.
But Kate later revealed that the virus wreaked havoc on his organs, attacking his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.
Kate and Derek’s children haven’t been able to see him since he went to hospital (Image: Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Express)
He also remains in a form of coma called a PDOC (Prolonged Disorder of Consciousness).
Kate also admitted that she is trying not to get carried away with the glimmers of hope that Derek is on his way to recovery, saying: “Had this happened back in May, I’d have been jubilant, but now I know how slow the change is, and how quickly things can slip backwards. I’m trying to keep my hope in check.
“Derek still needs help with his breathing, especially at night, and is very, very weak.”
Her husband has dropped eight stone in weight and now has Type 1 diabetes, which he didn’t suffer from before.
Their children, Darcey, 14, and Billy, 11, have not been able to see their father since he first went into hospital due to hospital guidelines.
Derek’s parents have also been unable to see him, and their home county of Lancashire is now in Tier 3, preventing them from being able to travel.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
