Kate Garraway has shared an emotional Father’s Day tribute to her husband as, as fights to recover from coronavirus.
The Good Morning Britain presenter’s husband Derek Draper was admitted to hospital in March, displaying symptoms of Covid-19 and struggling to breathe.
While Kate previously revealed Derek is now “Covid-free”, the virus has done so much damage to his body it isn’t clear if he will fully recover.
As she marked Father’s Day on Sunday, Kate said it had been a “tough day”, but said that her husband is “officially the best dad in the world” according to his children.
Posting a picture of Derek with their children, as well as pictures of her own father and father-in-law, Kate wrote on Instagram: “Whatever happens next I’m afraid it is going to be a long road, with an uncertain end that isn’t even nearly in sight right now.
“But this week I am refocusing on hope that as a family we are going to pull together with the support of friends and get through everything come what may.”
She continued: “I know that the amazing people keeping Derek alive, stand shoulder to shoulder with me in NEVER giving up on him and, of course, hope that my wonderful Derek is going to keep fighting this and eventually start to slowly recover.”
Throughout Derek’s illness, Kate has kept fans updated on his condition on her Instagram page, but said she hadn’t posted recently as she had needed some time after giving emotional interviews to Good Morning Britain and The Sun earlier this month.
She told her GMB co-hosts Ben Shephard and Ranvir Singh that Derek was still “very, very sick” as he remained in a coma.
She said: “It’s a virus, it’s a little bit like a computer virus I think. It’s like the doctors manage one bit extraordinarily well and there seems to be a flicker of hope and then other things emerge and they’re fighting that and it’s affected him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes.
“Let’s look at some of the positives. He is now Covid-free. So he’s testing negative for the Covid virus. So the fight with the virus has been won and he’s still here. But it’s wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don’t know if he can recover from that, basically.”
The couple, who are both 52, married in 2005 and have a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son, Darcey and William.