Kate Garraway reveals heartbreaking chat she had with daughter Darcey as she went to register Derek Draper’s death
KATE Garraway has revealed a heartbreaking chat she had with her daughter Darcey as she went to register Derek Draper’s death.
Derek, 56, who became known as the nation’s longest-suffering Covid patient, died last week after a four-year ordeal.
This morning, Garraway’s Good Morning Britain colleague Ben Shephard presented the ITV show for the first time since Derek’s death.
He opened by revealing that Garraway had told him about a touching chat she had with her daughter Darcey.
Shephard said: “They are in the next stages of working out what happens.
“There’s a lot of admin to do when you lose someone.”
He said that Garraway had told Darcey that she had to leave the house for the first time since Derek’s death to register it.
In Shephard’s telling, Darcey said: “I know this is going to be really hard but can I make one suggestion?
“Can you take the Christmas jumper off and can you brush your hair?”
Shephard added: “Kate said to me the clocks stopped for us just before Christmas when Derek had that heart attack.
“She’s just starting to come out of that.
“We all know that Kate in the run up to Christmas wears a new Christmas jumper every day, she supports a charity.
“Suddenly she realises yesterday that everything has been frozen in time since then.
“So now it’s about the next part of their journey.”
Shephard told how fans have stopped him on the street several times with condolences to pass on to Kate.
He said: “She just can’t explain how important that has been for her, to know there’s so much support for what she’s been through.
“She said she’s sort of been in a strange bubble of her own numbness and grief at the moment.”
In March 2020, Derek was rushed to hospital due to a Covid infection, which sparked years of heartbreaking health battles.
After he moved back home in April 2021, Derek required round the clock care and was rushed back to hospital with “life-threatening” sepsis in August the following year.
Following this, Derek was struck down with more ill health.
In December 2023, Kate was by her husband’s side once more after he suffered a huge heart attack.
Sadly, last week, he passed away following his ongoing health battle.
After being taken to hospital, Derek spent 214 days on a ventilator, nearly four months in an induced coma and lost eight stone, as well as his ability to speak properly.
On Monday, Susanna Reid held back tears as she read Garraway’s tribute to Derek on GMB.
Richard Madeley also paid tribute to Garraway and Derek’s love story – saying the GMB host “never gave up” on him.