Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway heartbreakingly shared that her husband Derek Draper still remains ‘very damaged’, amid his ongoing health battles.
The TV presenter has been open about Derek’s health over the past few years, documenting his journey as the worst known effected person to have survived Covid.
Derek, a 54-year-old former political adviser, first fell seriously ill in March 2020 after contracting Covid, and was placed under a medically induced coma for several months.
Kate, 55, recently shared that Derek had ‘life-threatening sepsis’ and had been placed in intensive care, and in August was back in hospital for a ‘serious operation’ on his kidneys.
Speaking on ITV’s DNA Journey, Kate reflected on Derek’s battle, saying: ‘2020 was a devastating year.
‘With Derek, he got very 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.’
Kate also opened up about the support she got from Alison Hammond, who featured on the episode of DNA Journey with her.
‘Alison, she was messaging me to say she was thinking of me in that way,’ Kate shared, commenting how the year must have been difficult for the This Morning presenter too, after both her parents died within five months of each other.


Kate and Derek’s journey has been documented in Caring For Derek, which was recently announced to have been shortlisted for a National Television Award.
The programme shows the reality of caring for her husband following his battle with Covid-19 and the long-term health issues it left him with.
Her last documentary, Finding Derek, won an NTA in 2021 after It became ITV’s most watched factual programme in years fetching an average of 4.5million viewers.
Picking up the award, Kate had said: ‘It was a hugely brave decision of ITV to commission, they didn’t know what they were making. [Director] Lucy arrived not knowing if she was seeing a family in grief or relief, in the end it ended up being something between the two.
‘Thank you so much for voting. I’m wondering if that was because our story is also your story.
‘We’ve all been touched by the pandemic, all the other docs that have been highlighted and nominated tonight they’ve also been affected by the pandemic.’
DNA Journey is available to watch on ITV Hub.