Kate Garraway recalls breakthrough moment of husband Derek's recovery
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Kate Garraway has opened up about a sweet moment on her birthday that proved a "massive" deal in her husband's recovery from COVID-19.
The Good Morning Britain presenter has been open about her family's struggles after Derek Draper was hospitalised with the virus in 2020, though thankfully he recently returned home for the first time in over a year.
Appearing on today's (May 4) episode of Lorraine, however, Kate spoke about one "emotional" moment earlier in the day that pointed to a positive sign in his recovery.
"I would say miraculous, but I don't want to bandy that word around too much," she began.
"At the moment, the family and I are looking for lots of little things with Derek. He's home, we can hug him, that's a miracle in itself. And then we're looking for little bits of him to come more out of the consciousness to come more back to us.
Kate went on to explain: "Last night I said to him when I was tucking him in and we were doing various medical bits, I said, 'oh by the way it's my birthday tomorrow.'
"He looked a bit worried, and I said, 'oh look don't worry I'm not expecting anything, my birthday present is you being home, and I'm going to pop in and see you before I go early off to Lorraine'.
"So I came in this morning and said, 'right I'm all ready,' and my mum and dad are there and of course the nurses are there, and I said, 'I'm off to Lorraine, is there anything you want to say to me?' And he said, 'oh, happy birthday.'.
"It makes me feel a bit emotional actually, but it's happy tears," she admitted. "Not to be technical about it, I sound like I'm analysing everything, but that is massive, obviously it's wonderful that he says happy birthday, because that's what I want to hear.
"But also, we're looking for things he can hold. I told him that the night before, I had to prompt him a little bit, but he held that idea that it was my birthday and then managed to connect it back and repeat it out. And that's wonderful. Signs like that are just fantastic."
The presenter went on to recall one moment a few days ago when one of the nurses told her that Derek had spoken for the first time, though revealed he said that their son "smelled of Monster Munch", Kate joking that it was "not quite the profound thing you hope".
Kate Garraway's book The Power of Hope, reflecting on the family's journey, is available to pre-order now.
The information in this story is accurate as of the publication date. While we are attempting to keep our content as up-to-date as possible, the situation surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to develop rapidly, so it's possible that some information and recommendations may have changed since publishing. For any concerns and latest advice, visit the World Health Organisation. If you're in the UK, the National Health Service can also provide useful information and support, while US users can contact the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
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