Kate Garraway has admitted she feels “physically sick” about facing her first Christmas without her husband Derek Draper.
The presenter’s husband was admitted to hospital on March 30 after contracting Covid-19, but sadly he remains seriously ill.
Speaking on Good Morning Britian, Kate told her co-host Ben Shephard: “I feel physically sick actually and can feel my chest tightening at the thought of it.”
“I’m in total panic about the idea of me, Darcey and Billy on our own this Christmas unable to visit Derek because of potential restrictions.”
“That huge emotional hole, and I don’t know how to fill it, without grandparents and without friends helping to fill it.”
“It feels like such a significant moment as all festivals are. I do feel in a panic about it, but we’re in this situation because of the spread of a disease that at the moment doesn’t have a cure.”
The news comes after Kate recently revealed how Derek had uttered his first word since the end of March.
Speaking to The Sun last month, she said: “It happened when the nurses were moving Derek, as part of his treatment, to trigger the sensation of gravity because he’s been horizontal for so long.”
“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,” Kate explained.
“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.”
“But he’s said it twice now and I was there for the second one, watching him over FaceTime. That was so hard, but also amazing because I know the possible significance.”
“Of course there’s a big difference between being able to say the word ‘pain’, and Derek being the Derek I know and love. But I feel in his eyes that he’s there, and that we just have to hold on in this grim battle.”
