Kate Garraway fought back tears as she returned to Good Morning Britain on Wednesday after an absence to celebrate her husband Derek Draper’s birthday.
The presenter, 53, told Adil Ray that while Derek is still recovering from COVID-19 in hospital, she celebrated with a cake on Facetime, admitting the day was ‘challenging’ for herself and their two children Darcey, 14, and Billy, 11.
Kate told Adil: ‘It was obviously a challenging one under the circumstances. We managed to FaceTime him and sing Happy Birthday.’
She’s back! Kate Garraway, 53, fought back tears as she returned to Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, after an absence to celebrate her husband Derek Draper’s birthday
She continued: ‘We had a cake which we ate over FaceTime. It was very challenging for the kids, but they are doing it brilliantly.
‘We managed to do it with Derek’s family and technically hook up and sing Happy Birthday. We just hope the love seeps through.’
Kate went onto reveal that her GMB co-presenter Laura Tobin gifted her a rosebush as a ‘sign of hope,’ which begun to flower on Derek’s birthday.
The visibly emotional star added that her daughter Darcey, 14, turned to gardening to keep busy when Derek first fell ill back in March.
Hard: Derek was hospitalised in March after contracting coronavirus, and while he’s now been declared COVID-free, he’s facing a slow recovery in hospital (pictured with Kate in 2019)
Moving: Kate told Adil Ray she celebrated Derek’s birthday with their two children by having a cake on Facetime, describing the day as ‘challenging’ for the family
She added: ‘They’ve come and gone and we’re picking tomatoes that we grew from the seed.
‘It’s amazing how nature helps you mark the passage of time, which is therapeutic in a way.
‘We’d say ”we’ll plant these and when dad’s better next year he can see them come up”. We’ve been trying to keep things moving forward which helps.’
Soldiering on: The broadcaster fought back tears as she revealed her daughter Darcey, 14, has been gardening to keep busy while Derek was in hospital
Kate struggled to hide her tears as she said: ‘Sorry, I don’t know why I’ve gone all…. I’ve gone all sort of, you know…
‘We’ll cheer up in a minute. I just wanted to explain because a lot of people were in touch asking why I hadn’t been in work. It’s nice that people care, thank you.’
Adil teased Kate’s return to the show by sharing a selfie of the pair behind the famous desk, writing: ‘She’s here. I’m here, are you here? @gmb @kategarraway.’
Following her return to work, Kate also made the shocking admission that she’s faced abuse from trolls on social media for trying to remain positive on the show by ‘laughing and joking.’
Shocking: Kate also admitted that she’s faced abuse from trolls on social media for trying to remain positive on the show by ‘laughing and joking’
Reunited! Adil teased Kate’s return to the show by sharing a selfie of the pair behind the famous desk, writing: ‘She’s here. I’m here, are you here? @gmb @kategarraway’
During an interview with paramedic Laura Heath – who was abused online for sharing a glamorous selfie during the COVID-19 crisis – Kate admitted she’s been criticised for ‘having a laugh’ on the show while her husband is still recovering in hospital.
She said: ‘We’ve talked about this, with me doing this show, if we’re having a laugh and joke – because that’s our job in the morning to cheer everybody – people then say does that mean you’re not worried about Derek or you’re not feeling sad about.
‘They see her posting and posing when she should be saving lives, not really understanding we’re all human and the most important thing is we have to laugh and smile. Nothing warrants abuse.’
A timeline of Derek’s coronavirus battle
MARCH
Kate revealed she and Prince Charles had got ‘relatively close’ at the Prince’s Trust Awards on March 11 – Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March.
She said: ‘Around the 29/30 March, I came home came in and said [to Derek] ‘god you look ill.’
‘He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe,
‘I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance’
Derek, 52, was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition.
APRIL
Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed ‘mild symptoms’.
Kate said: ‘Derek remains in intensive care and is still very ill. I’m afraid it remains an excruciatingly worrying time.
‘I’m afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope.’
MAY
Kate said: ‘The journey for me and my family seems to be far from over as every day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways this virus has more battles for Derek to fight.
‘But he is still HERE & so there is still hope.’
That month, Kate and her family took part in the final clap for carers
She said: ‘I’ll never give up on that because Derek’s the love of my life but at the same time I have absolute uncertainty’
JUNE
On June 5, Kate revealed Derek is now free from coronavirus but continues to fight against the damage inflicted on his body
JULY
On July 5, Kate revealed Derek has woken from his coma but he remains in a serious yet critical condition.
On July 8, she announced she would be returning to GMB, after being urged by doctors to ‘get on with life’ during Derek’s recovery.
She added that Derek had ‘opened his eyes’ after waking from his coma, but has been told his recovery could take years.
On July 13, Kate returned to GMB for the first time since Derek was hospitalised.
On July 28, Kate revealed she’d paid an ‘extra emotional’ first visit to Derek, and admitted she’s ‘frustrated’ by his slow progress.
AUGUST
On August 14, Kate reassured GMB viewers that Derek was ‘still with us,’ but it was ‘a waiting game.’
On August 19, Kate revealed she celebrated Derek’s birthday with their two children, and described the day as ‘challenging’ for her family.
Last week Kate offered fans an update on Derek’s condition, reassuring them that he’s ‘very much still with us,’ but it is still a ‘waiting game.’
She added she is reluctant to talk about Derek ‘every week’ on the show as she doesn’t want to upset viewers, but was reassured by Adil that she has been ‘inspiring.’
‘The nurses are putting this show on in the morning for him in the hope that might trigger something, but its a waiting game.’ Kate said.
‘I’m lucky I’ve got the chance to wait and he’s still with us and lots of people don’t have that.’
Since her husband was hospitalised with COVID-19 in March, Kate has been incredible open about her husband’s slow recovery.
Earlier this month Kate revealed she paid an ‘extra emotional’ first visit to Derek, as he continues to slowly recover from COVID-19.
She told Ben Shephard: ‘I did go and see Derek, he’s had a tough couple of weeks, and it’s just frustrating, it would have actually been his birthday today so I was extra emotional so I was thinking about the day he was born.
She added: ‘What the doctor said to me was, “Sometimes, Kate, a day when nothing has gone backwards is a positive”.’
As Ben agreed that Derek had ‘a stable day,’ Kate added: ‘It’s just I’m desperate for a step forward. It’s always lovely to see him and so it’s wonderful to have the chance to see him.’
REVEALED: HOW THE CRUEL LEGACY OF COVID MAY LAST A LIFETIME
Covid-19 could leave survivors with debilitating illnesses that last for years, doctors have warned since the outbreak spiralled out of control.
One leading medic called it ‘this generation’s polio’ – a disease that killed thousands and left a generation with life-long mobility issues.
Patients who spend weeks fighting the disease can suffer from long-term complications caused by permanent damage to their lungs and liver, but serious problems can also blight people who only have a minor illness.
SCARRING AND LONG-TERM LUNG DAMAGE
Several recent studies have highlighted proof Covid-19 causes fibrosis – scarring of the lung tissue – that makes it harder for the organs to work.
A research paper published in a Chinese journal in March said ‘pulmonary fibrosis may be one of the major [long-term] complications in Covid-19 patients’.
A build-up of scar tissue in the lungs can reduce their capacity to absorb air, leaving a patient with breathing difficulties, shortness of breath or a cough.
Insufficient oxygen also has knock-on effects on the other vital organs, which rely on the chemical to work. Without it, they cannot work as efficiently and may start to fail or work less efficiently.
Failing kidneys may result in a patient needing long-term medication or dialysis, while a severely damaged liver could require a transplant to treat.
IMMUNE SYSTEM OVER-REACTION CAN DAMAGE HEART, LIVER & KIDNEYS
Evidence is also emerging that the virus may affect the the liver, kidneys, heart and blood vessels because of the way it can force the immune system to attack healthy parts of the body.
As well as the potential of immediate death in the case of kidney failure, a heart attack or a stroke, any damage to these vital organs can cause lifelong disability and dramatically increase the risk of dying young.
A paper in the journal JAMA Cardiology in March reported a fifth of patients in a group of 416 who were hospitalised in Wuhan, China, had suffered heart damage.
Another study in Wuhan found that 16 out of 36 intensive care patients developed irregular heartbeats, called arrhythmia, which can weaken the heart’s ability to pump blood.
Coronavirus can also cause blood clots, scientists say, which raise the risk of stroke or heart attack.
The heart problems are thought to occur as a result of the virus triggering a ‘cytokine storm’, where the immune system overreacts to the infection.
GROWING EVIDENCE OF BRAIN DAMAGE AND NEUROLOGICAL EFFECTS
Long-term brain damage may also be a consequence of Covid-19 infection, according to emerging research of patients who caught it.
Doctors around the world say they are seeing growing numbers of people with neurological symptoms such as headaches, loss of smell and taste, tingling sensations, losing the ability to speak and even seizures and strokes, the BBC reported.
Dr Elissa Fory, from the Henry Ford Foundation in Detroit, said: ‘We don’t know yet if the encephalopathy [brain damage] is more severe with Covid-19 than with other viruses, but I can tell you we’ve been seeing quite a lot of it.’
Symptoms affecting the brain are harder to measure and track – it took months for officials in the UK to admit a lost sense of smell was a symptom of coronavirus – but they can be permanent.
HOSPITAL STAYS AND TREATMENT CAN BE DEBILITATING
As well as damage caused by the virus itself, patients who are seriously ill with Covid-19 – particularly those in intensive care – will suffer long-term health problems just from being in hospital.
Physiotherapists warn patients muscles start to waste away quickly when they are in hospital beds, which can leave them with mobility problems for a long time – especially if they are already elderly, which many coronavirus patients are.
People’s lungs can also be irreparably damaged by ventilators, the intensive care machines which help people to breathe when they cannot do it alone.
The machines work by blowing air into the lungs through a tube inserted directly down the throat and into the airways. The pressure of the air being forced into the lungs can tear and split the delicate tissue inside the lungs and leave them permanently damaged. This is a trade-off: the machines are usually a last resort for people who can’t breathe on their own and would die without the ventilator.
People who get seriously ill are also at a risk of developing depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of their ordeal after the initial infection has gone.
EVEN MILD ILLNESS CAN DRAG ON FOR MONTHS
There is growing evidence that even mild Covid-19 can have long-lasting consequences and the UK Government last weekend launched a study into the after-effects of the illness.
Experts on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) warned that Covid-19 patients could be left with ‘extreme tiredness and shortness of breath for several months’ even if they were not hospitalised.
Concerns about the lasting effects of the illness were discussed in a SAGE meeting which took place on May 7.
Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, revealed some patients need psychological treatment for ‘post-intensive care syndrome’.
And another scientific advisor to the Government told The Telegraph that ‘a very high proportion’ of Covid-19 survivors ‘cannot get back to a normal life’.
Last month Kate revealed in an emotional GMB interview that Derek had ‘almost died six times,’ during his battle with coronavirus.
She told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid: ‘It is a very desperate situation, it’s very very difficult, of course there’s fantastic hope he’s still alive, the doctors do keep saying it’s a miracle he’s still alive.
‘I was speaking to a doctor yesterday who said he’s sick as anyone I’ve ever seen in 35 years of medicine, and some of those people who were as sick as him aren’t here.
‘Six times they said he’s not going to make it, and obviously you couldn’t visit. So he’s been very very sick, but it’s a new disease, there’s no data, so what they can say is it’s great he’s here.
‘There’s flickers of hope, his lungs are starting to recover, his kidneys are doing better, his liver, but they don’t know how much better he can get.’
Asked whether there had been any explanation for why Derek had been so badly affected by the virus, Kate admitted doctors are still unsure.
Now that Derek has been declared COVID-free, Kate admitted she fears for the long-term damage the virus may have done, and whether that will affect Derek in his recovery.
Kate also reiterated that doctors had urged her to ‘get on with life’ while Derek continues to recover, insisting she had to be present for their two children Darcey.
Kate’s husband has been in hospital since March, and while Kate sparked hope earlier this month by revealing he has awoken from a coma, the star has been told his recovery could take years.
Derek has previously credited Kate for saving him from depression which started during his career as a political advisor and led to a nervous breakdown and a stint in The Priory in the late 1990s.
After moving to Los Angeles for three years and retraining as a therapist, his friend GMTV’s political correspondent, Gloria De Piero, offered to set him up with her friend and colleague Kate.
Kate and Derek have been married since 2005, with the former lobbyist cheering his wife on for the duration of her stint on I’m A Celebrity last year.
Following her stint on I’m A Celebrity, the couple were planning to renew their vows in the coming months after Kate revealed Derek had proposed for a second time.
Touching: Derek has credited Kate for saving him from depression which started during his career as a political advisor and led to a nervous breakdown (pictured in 2006)
