Kate Garraway has issued a health update on her husband Derek Draper and admits he can now communicate in a whisper.
The Good Morning Britain presenter appeared on Loose Women to discuss her husband's health as well as share the news about her upcoming book and new documentary. Former political lobbyist Derek, 55, has become one of the worst living cases of Covid-19 after contracting the virus in March 2020 and was hospitalised for 13 months as a result.
Derek has faced a series of health battles as he recovers from the virus that ravaged his body, as he contracted sepsis last year leaving him "minutes from death". Speaking on the ITV chat show, Kate told the Loose Women panellists that Derek can now communicate in the form of whispering.
Panellist Linda Robson asked if Derek could communicate, Kate said: "It is very much a whisper and I don't think we are necessarily going to have a conversation but you get fantastic moments where he will suddenly... This is so silly but Billy had a new basketball and he was bouncing it and suddenly Derek asked 'Is that a new ball?'.
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"We all just went 'Ah'... and Billy went 'Yes, yes it is, it is' and he [Derek] said 'It's nice'. Seeing him able is unbelievable, it is something you take for granted.
"But to have him be able to interact in that way and then Billy was in tears and they were hugging. It's things like that, that really lift you up and then the next day he was completely still."
Kate reminisced about the last time she appeared on Loose Women in 2020 before Derek fell ill, and said: "The last time I was on the show was the beginning of 2020. Derek and I were going to renew our vows. It was very happy. In a matter of weeks we were in this unfolding drama.
"It feels like forever ago, and just yesterday. I'm still living the scenes you see in the documentary. I've decided to do another documentary. I've written a book, nearly finished, which is coming out in September."
During her visit to the show, Kate also revealed that she had managed to take Derek to see Elton John at London's O2 after being invited by the Rocketman singer himself. However, Derek was adamant he would make it to the concert.
Kate said: "We've got some positive things with Derek, even though the struggles are the same, I took a decision in January that we've got to fill our days with loads of good stuff.
"We take him out on walks. An extraordinary moment, we managed to take him out to see Elton John. His team were brilliant, the O2 was brilliant."
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12:30pm on ITV.
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