Kate Garraway has said her husband Derek Draper is still “very damaged” as he continues to suffer health problems from long Covid.
Garraway’s husband is still in recovery from the disease after falling seriously ill in March 2020.
Draper, 55, was placed in an induced coma in hospital to combat the virus and returned home in 2021, where he has been receiving 24-hour care. He was sent back to hospital several times last year, following health issues amid his recovery.
Garraway, 55, said there had been an “improvement” in her husband’s progress but there was a “long road ahead”.
Speaking on the Walt Disney Travel Company podcast Journey To The Magic, Garraway said: “It is challenging, he’s still very, very damaged. He still can’t really move, still can’t really speak, still fed through tubes, and so there’s a long road ahead.
“But if you compare to last Christmas or the Christmas before, when he was still in hospital then you can see improvement.”
Garraway continued to vent her frustrations as she said: “It’s just, you just want it to be quicker and faster, of course, like everybody would.
“But it’s a challenging one – he spent most of last year in the hospital as well for various different things, so it was lovely to have him home.”
The Good Morning Britain presenter documented her journey in taking care of her husband amid his health battle at home in ITV1’s Finding Derek, which first aired in 2021.
The documentary went on to win two National Television Awards after connecting with audiences.
Garraway also spoke about the impact of seeing the film herself.
“I started filming Derek in hospital to see if there was progress,” she told podcast host Giovanna Fletcher.
“It was so emotional seeing him with all the tubes and everything that goes with it and in such a sick state.
“But I couldn’t really take it in and then afterwards the doctors would say, “did you see any difference from last time?” And I was thinking “gosh, I don’t really know that I took it in” – I was just overwhelmed with the emotion.”
Garraway has been married to Draper since 2005 and the pair share a daughter and a son.
