Kate Garraway's unwavering devotion to Derek - financial strain and loneliness
Kate Garraway broke the heartbreaking news on Friday that her beloved husband Derek Draper had died, marking the end of his four year health battle.
The Good Morning Britain presenter and mother-of-two as she supported him - and their two children - throughout his long and gruelling health battle.
On Friday morning, the 56-year-old released a statement on social media confirming that her husband of 19 years Derek, also 56, had died. The doting mum-of-two solemnly wrote: “I’m sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away. As some of you may know he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.
Kate and Derek share two children"Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed. I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible. Sending so much love and thanks to all of you who have so generously given our family so much support. Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life."
After Derek first fell ill with Covid-19 in March 2020, Kate dedicated her entire life to caring for her spouse, who was a former political advisor and lobbyist. Derek remained in and out of hospital until his death in January 2024 and throughout his health battle Kate spoke frankly about the intense toll becoming his 24/7 carer had taken.
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Her selfless devotion won her scores of praise from fans and her celebrity friends alike, with the mum being awarded with an OBE for her services to charity as well as broadcasting in June.
We take a look back at Kate's incredible strength as she became a round the clock nurse while juggling two jobs and raising her children.
Derek was last seen publicly with Kate in June (Getty Images)Round-the-clock care
After being deemed well enough to leave hospital in 2020, Derek continued to require round-the-clock care which Kate taking on a role as live-in carer. The latter’s friends urged the presenter to “slow down” as she balanced looking after her Derek with her jobs on Good Morning Britain and Smooth radio. A source told OK! magazine that Kate’s close pals were worried about her becoming exhausted, saying: “She’s barely sleeping so she’s exhausted and has been working on automatic mode recently.” They also told the outlet Kate was “juggling too many balls”. Kate previously said she only sleeps for around four hours most nights and has not taken a day off since Derek became sick.
Derek required round-the-clock care (Pixel8000)Kate made two documentaries detailing her family’s life as Derek battled the long-term effects of coronavirus, with both programmes winning National Television Awards in the authored documentary category. Speaking at length about the care her husband needed, Kate said: “There are some days where he literally cannot do anything and it’s like the computer is switched off. He cannot move, and he’s in so much pain as we are manipulating him, trying to get him more mobile so that he doesn’t regress. I always ask him if he wants to stop, and he grunts ‘no, no’. It is unbearable, and it makes me emotional even talking about it. Derek is trapped, but he fights on.”
Emotional turmoil
In November, Kate emphasised the importance of self-care while looking after Derek and said she’d been “experimenting with ways to take control of her own happiness”. The veteran presenter added to : “He’s had to be rushed back into hospital so many times, the fear of him dying has never left us [it] means we’re living on a rollercoaster.” Kate has also emotionally revealed: "I worry that I’m failing on every front, at everything. But I’ve got to keep going and fight on for Derek."
Derek also had a team of carers looking after him (Kate Garraway/Instagram)Elaborating on the emotional stress of Derek’s illness in December 2022, Kate said on GMB: “The thing is when it’s a long battle like with Derek, there’s no end point and it can be exhausting for the people around me too. I know sometimes people say, ‘oh she’s talking about that again’, but what I’ve learnt is you only really know what it feels like unless you’re in it. And now I get contacted by thousands and thousands of people who make me feel less alone.”
The stress Kate was constantly living under also took its toll physically, with the presenter revealing in November that she had to go to hospital with chest pain. "When I went back, they [the doctors] said ‘Yeah, we don’t think you’re strong enough to do stressor tests’… funnily enough… I mean, oh my God, we’ve had enough stressor tests.”
Kate often spoke about how difficult her family's situation was (PA Wire)Missing work
When Derek suffered a heart attack last month, Kate promptly cancelled all of her work commitments to be by his side. Confirming Kate’s absence from Smooth Radio after the news broke, her colleague Jenni Falconer told listeners: “On behalf of everyone here at Smooth we're sending lots of love and Smooth best wishes to our very own Kate Garraway. Kate's husband Derek as we all know has been struggling with long-lasting damage since he suffered from covid and it doesn't look good at the moment. it doesn't look like he’s in a good way. So we're sending lots of love to Kate, Derek and the family… especially at this time of the year.”
Kate Garraway became her late husband Derek Draper's carer (ITV)Financial strain
Months prior, in March, Kate also addressed the financial toll of Derek’s illness. Citing the “changes” she’d made to her home so that she can better care for her husband, Kate told : “Of course it’s been tough financially. As anyone with a loved one who is seriously ill knows, the costs go through the roof in so many ways. You have to make changes to your home and it affects your ability to work. I had to take long periods off when Derek was first sick, and of course it affects the overall income for the family as he can no longer work.”
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Loneliness
Elsewhere, in September, former I’m a Celebrity star Kate touched upon the loneliness she felt while caring for her sick husband while in conversation with . She powerfully pointed out: “Caring for someone you love is a privilege, and I will never give up, but I want to champion the cause that everyone in my position faces because I know people are drowning trying to navigate through the care system. We talk about a crisis but it is beyond crisis. It is very lonely and very difficult, and I at least do have that voice.”
Impact on children
Kate married Derek in 2005 they share two children, 17-year-old Darcey and Billy, 11, who she previously said had to undergo a big period of adjustment after their father fell ill.
Speaking on Heart Breakfast in September about how her kids were doing, Kate shared that they were “navigating it brilliantly”. The star added: “He’s their daddy. And it’s interesting, he comes most alive I think when he’s around [the kids]. He does come alive and you can see him kind of trying to be the old dad as much as he can, trying to make them laugh, trying to do different things.
“But they’ve had to realise that, I mean Derek was this kind of loud, rumbustious, huge, you know… overwhelming… and god how we loved it, but he’s not that now, so they’ve had to readjust. You know how you bounce off your parents, different boundaries, and they are doing it brilliantly. They’re navigating it brilliantly.”
When accepting the award for Inspiration Of The Year at the HELLO! Star Women Awards in 2020, Kate said she'd been trying to be "both mum and dad" to Darcey and Billy. Reflecting on her family's difficult year, Kate said at the virtual awards: "It has brought us closer but also they miss their dad, so I guess I'm trying to be mum and dad as well and obviously can't be. It's sad as well, so it's making sure there's enough laughter going on as well. That's so important. You find yourself laughing at the silliest things and that's kind of a release, isn't it?"
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