Kate Garraway opens up on Derek Draper’s ‘unbelievable’ health update during ITV Loose Women appearance

Journalist and presenter Kate Garraway has taken to Loose Women to provide an important health update on husband Derek Draper.

Kate was on the ITV midday show on Thursday (June 8) where she spoke candidly about Derek’s health, years after first catching Covid-19 and still suffering from its devastating impact.

But in a positive note, Kate said Derek can be communicate with her and others by whispering. 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, the Daily Record reports.

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Since catching coronavirus, Derek has faced numerous health issues as he continues to slowly recover from its impact. This includes catching sepsis in 2022 leaving him very close to dying.

Speaking on Loose Women, Kate told 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?’.

“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.”

Prior to this appearance, Kate was last on Loose Women in 2020 before Derek was ill with the virus. She 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.”

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.”

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