Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper has spoken for the first time in seven months.
The 53-year-old was admitted to hospital on March 30 after contracting Covid-19, but sadly he remains seriously ill.
Speaking to The Sun, the Good Morning Britain host revealed how Derek had uttered his first word since the end of March.
Kate said: “It’s a case of trying to balance belief, hope, optimism with reality. But we have had a breakthrough which was both amazing yet heartbreaking.”
“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.”
Despite recent developments, Kate has admitted she doesn’t want to get her hopes up, as the virus wreaked havoc on Derek’s body – including his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.
Kate said: “There’s a flash of his presence, and then he disappears again. The emotionally challenging thing is that we’re waiting now to see what happens next; somehow it’s even more agonising now there’s been this breakthrough.”
“We have greater hope now, but also greater fear of him slipping back. There’s no precedent to this virus. Even now no one fully understands it and its long-term effects.”
“There is no idea of timescale or any data as to how much he can recover or how long it will take.”
“But the other significant change is that they’ve been able to remove his tracheotomy tube — which is very positive as it means his lungs have started to work and aren’t solid as they were before. But he still has a long way to go.”
“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. He is being given medicine and drugs to keep things functioning. The virus has left him type 1 diabetic — he had no diabetes before.”
Kate explained: “Having hope keeps you moving forward, but there are days when I feel quite weak. We miss Derek every single day. But now I definitely feel like he looks at me, and he knows me.”
“I have to believe that, it’s what keeps me going. I say to him all the time, ‘I know you’re in there, Derek . . . and I’m going to get you out’. I feel like I’m hanging over a cliff edge, holding on to him, saying, ‘Don’t let go, don’t let go — I’m going to get you out of this.’
“I sometimes think he’s looking back at me and in his Derek way thinking, ‘Well, can you please crack on with it a bit faster’. But it’s the doctors and nurses, and Derek himself, that are really going to bring him back. They are the heroes in this.”
