Kate Garraway's heartbreaking update on husband Derek's health with new condition resulting in 'near miss'
10.09.2023 - 11:15
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Kate Garraway has shared a fresh update on her husband Derek Draper's health, revealing a new condition he has developed that is 'baffling' doctors. The Good Morning Britain star has been helping care for Derek since early 2020 after he contracted Coronationvirus.
The virus 'wreaked havoc' on the former Labour lobbyist's body. He spent just over a year in hospital and has needed round-the-clock care ever since he returned home in April 2021. While he's made some progress since coming out of his coma, he can still only say the occasional few words and is struggling with renal failure and infected wounds.
Another of Derek's struggles comes from his lungs. He can't breathe in oxygen nor breathe out carbon dioxide efficiently, meaning his body is "slightly poisoned all the time". Kate says Derek now urgently needs rehab to help him breathe properly again, and has detailed a recent scary incident.
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She told the Sunday Times he has developed a "weird choking" condition that's baffling doctors. "It happened again just last weekend," she said. "For absolutely no reason he just went blue." Fortunately, two carers were on hand to get Derek breathing again as Kate and her son watched in horror. Eventually he "sort of vomited" as the relieved carers knew they'd just had a "really near miss".
However, the family were left delighted by signs that Derek was improving when he eventually came home after his first long stint in hospital. He was able to see their daughter, Darcey, collect her GCSEs, attend an Elton John concert and Derek also got to watch Kate receive an MBE.
But he is still facing a long road to recovery, with Kate worried