GMB's Kate Garraway says husband Derek Draper remains "very damaged"

Kate Garraway has shared more details regarding her husband Derek Draper's recovery from Covid on ITV's DNA Journey on Thursday night.



The Good Morning Britain presenter said that Draper sadly "remains very damaged" as his recovery continues.

Draper was admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 in March 2020, and a year later he returned home where he has been receiving care ever since.

Garraway has shared regular updates on her husband's condition, and how life has changed for their family.

Related: GMB's Kate Garraway 'relearning how to be husband and wife' with Derek Draper

Speaking on DNA Journey, she explained that Draper's condition is still very serious.

"2020 was a pretty devastating year," Garraway said. "With Derek, he got sick very early on in the pandemic and has remained very damaged.

"That is quite well-documented, because for a lot of people, he's come to symbolise the fight that goes on."

Garraway also thanked her DNA Journey co-star Alison Hammond for her support during Derek's illness.

"Alison, she was messaging me and saying 'I'm thinking of you', and has always been incredible in that way," she revealed.

Meanwhile, back in August, Garraway revealed that her husband was readmitted to hospital after being diagnosed with "life-threatening" sepsis.

"I dramatically disappeared and haven't been here for three weeks now," Garraway told concerned ITV viewers at the time.



"We were on air and Derek had come out of the hospital, he's been going in and out of hospital for a while for looking at ways to tackle the damage caused by Covid back in 2020."

The couple have been married for 17 years, and are parents to two children, Darcey and William.

Garraway has released two critically-acclaimed documentaries over the last two years that have closely followed her husband's long journey to recovery.

Kate Garraway: Finding Derek aired in March 2021, a year after Draper's coronavirus diagnosis, and its follow-up Kate Garraway: Caring for Derek aired in February 2022.

She has also written a book titled The Power of Hope, published last year, in which she shares some details of Derek's illness and its impact on the family.

"If writing about my experience of facing fear, coping daily with an uncertain future and finding strength for the sake of my kids can help another person feeling lost or in despair, it'll mean a lot," she said when the book was first announced.