Good Morning Britain presenter Ben Shephard has said how his colleague Kate Garraway will “never give up” on her husband Derek Draper as he battles to cope with the effects of severe Covid on his body.
Derek, 54, was admitted to hospital in March 2020 and placed into a coma after being infected with Covid-19.
After spending an entire year in hospital he has now returned home but is unable to properly move or communicate after suffering damage all over his body and requires round-the-clock care.
Kate’s close friend and fellow presenter on Good Morning Britain Ben appeared on ITV documentary Caring For Derek, which charts Derek’s slow recovery and his wife’s struggle caring for him.
(Image: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)
In the documentary Ben said Kate will always stand by her man despite her admitting he’s almost a “stranger” now.
He said: “Derek has undoubtedly changed from the man I knew a couple of years ago, and certainly from the person that Kate fell in love with.”
He admitted Kate will find trying to accept what the future might look like “really difficult”.
“One thing everybody knows about Kate is that she hates letting anybody down,” Ben said.
(Image: ITV)
“The idea that she would think that people might think she’s given up would so far removed from who she is, what motivates her and what drives her on.
“I don’t think she ever will [give up].”
Kate discussed her life with Derek before he fell ill in the documentary, saying she “married someone who was loud and fast-talking, challenging and loving and all of those things”.
“And the person he is now in many ways is a stranger,” she added.
She said that while he may never “command a room with a thesis on modern psychology again”, she wondered if that is “the be-all and end-all”.
Kate said: “If we have a love and he can be a dad to the children in a whole new way, then that’s life isn’t it?”
(Image: ITV)
Kate welled up as she admitted one of the “worst things” was the deterioration in Derek’s communication.
The presenter described the “terrible loneliness that you get from having him here and yet not here”.
She said: “It’s really indescribable. It’s just so hard.
“I can sort of see him but he’s absent. And you feel very much on your own all the time.”
She added “people are very kind and say I’m an inspiration, but I’m really struggling. And it’s important to know that too”.
Caring For Derek is available to view on on ITV Hub.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
