Kate Garraway says her husband, Derek Draper, will die within three days if he doesn’t get the expert medical attention he needs as he continues to battle back from Covid-19.
The 54-year-old Good Morning Britain star has become the sole breadwinner of her household after her husband of 17-years was hospitalised with Covid in March 2020.
The mum-of-two is said to be surviving on minimal sleep as she continues to work for Good Morning Britain, host her daily Smooth Radio show, work on other projects, look after kids Darcey, 15, and William, 12, and care for 54-year-old Derek.
Housebound Derek – who left hospital last year after 13 months and after being in an induced coma – is getting around the clock care which Kate says he needs to stay alive.
The Sun reports: “While he still requires 24 hour expert care - he would die within three days should he be left unaided - Kate continues to do a super-human amount of it herself.”
They also report that Kate: “often gets up every two hours in the night to help the overnight carer to move him in bed, and she has to wash and change his bed linen a staggering seven times a day.”
Viewers will see all the details about Derek’s ongoing recovery in the upcoming documentary Caring For Derek which is due to air on ITV on Tuesday night.
The documentary is a sequel to Kate’s previous documentary, Finding Derek, which follower Kate, Derek and his family as they coped with his hospitalisation and eventual return home.
In an interview with The Sun, Kate explained the daily heartbreak she endures while caring for her husband.
She said: “For me, it’s like there’s both grief and hope in the same moment.
“There are flashes of the old Derek and then he disappears again, and you’re left just feeling really lonely.
“Derek dreams about the ‘before’, and every morning it’s just so, so awful seeing him wake up, and the realisation of where he is. There’s a kind of heartbreak in his eyes, every single morning. You can just see it.”
Kate previously discussed her upcoming documentary while on Good Morning Britain alongside Ben Shephard last week.
She revealed: "Next week there's another documentary about Derek coming out that I've done, Caring For Derek.
"Obviously he is still terribly affected by Covid, and undoubtedly it has had an effect on certainly brain connections to his body."
Ben asked: "So not just physical wellbeing, but mental wellbeing as well?"
Kate responded: "I don't know about mental wellbeing if I'm absolutely honest, because he is still so affected in terms of communication and mobility that I wouldn't feel qualified to say whether it had had an impact in terms of depression and anxiety.
"I mean it must be I would have thought, because if you are still unable to communicate and very challenged mobility wise, and lung, and all the other things, then that is going to affect..."
She went on: "It's interesting isn't it that now at last... everything was focused on the lungs, and then people were understanding there is fatigue, which is actually a neurological problem anyway, and now more and more we are realising the wider impact."
Caring For Derek airs on Tuesday night at 9pm on ITV and via the ITV Hub.
