Kate Garraway reveals her husband is still 'devastated by covid' and a 'long way' from the man he was

Kate Garraway's husband, Derek Draper, returned home in April

Kate Garraway
Kate Garraway says Derek Draper is a 'long way' from the man he was
(Image credit: Brett Cove/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Kate Garraway has said her husband is still "devastated" by covid-19, despite having successfully returned home following a year-long stint in hospital. 

The Good Morning Britain star appeared on BBC's The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday and gave fans an update on Derek's condition, as the question on everyone's lips remains: How is Derek Draper doing?

Kate explained, "He came home on April the 7th so we're a few weeks into it now. How is he? Look, he's devastated by Covid."

Sharing the devastating reality of what life is like for Derek - who spent months in intensive care and could be "locked in" forever - Kate revealed, "He can't really move, his communication is very minimal. There are moments where there's up, you feel you know he's in there."

Despite returning to their family home in April, Derek has a long way to go in terms of recovery.

"He has a lot of memory. But the accessing of it is very limited. He's a long way from the Derek Draper that you know Andrew but he's home and he's alive, he's asleep now."

Kate Garraway and husband Derek Draper

Derek Draper spent a year in hospital battling covid-19

(Image credit: Photo by Karwai Tang/Getty Images)

Although Derek coming out of hospital was a huge win for the family, he is now receiving 24-hour care as he continues to deal with the effects of long covid.

“It’s been a lot of discussions, even before Christmas about what is the best way to go, because it’s kind of balancing… it’s a very unique situation, Derek’s situation,” Kate previously explained. 

“It was really looking at his cognition and looking at his consciousness, and trying to think about what would be the best way to improve that.”


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She went on to add that “there have been improvements” but “it felt as though everything had stalled medically and if anything was going slightly back.”

“It does feel a little bit like the hospital has come home with me at the moment, as we’ve got all sorts of professional people making sure everything is safe and then see how being in the family environment could help,” Kate revealed.

Derek is thought to be the UK's longest surviving covid-19 patient .

Georgia Farquharson

Georgia writes across Woman & Home and Good to Know and specialises in all things royal. Previously labelled the "Queen of the royals," Georgia knows the whose who and what's what when it comes to the monarchy. When she's not eagerly following the royal family, Georgia enjoys shopping and self-care. She lives with this motto in mind; "if your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough."