Kate Garraway has shared that her husband Derek Draper is in hospital once again due to a life-threatening case of sepsis.
Derek’s health issues began in March 2020, when he fell seriously ill with Covid and was admitted to hospital, where he remained for over a year.
Since he left hospital, the Good Morning Britain presenter has been caring for him at home, although she disclosed in August that he had been “in and out” of medical care for a number of weeks due to “very severe” sepsis.
Writing in The Sun on Wednesday, Kate said: “Derek is back in hospital after developing sepsis that again threatened his life and we are again fighting to get him home.
“But I remain constantly inspired by those around him – not just for their expertise but for their loving care.”
Of Derek’s nurses and other carers, she added: “On his birthday they wrote in a card, ‘We celebrate every day your braveness and strength to keep going through the pain, struggles and setbacks’.
“And then added, ’But today on your birthday, we want to celebrate you, Derek, the man, not the trauma, but you as a person’.
“That is care, to me, in its purest form - how wonderful if we as a society could value the importance of it as much as I know Derek and millions of others do every day.”
Kate’s piece in The Sun centred around her recent documentary Caring For Derek, in which she opened up about how the lives of herself and her family have changed since her husband returned home.
The documentary is in the running for a prize at this year’s National Television Awards, which are taking place in London on Thursday night.
“When Caring for Derek was nominated, I was of course very honoured but I had mixed feelings about asking people to vote for the film,” Kate wrote.
“I was worried and guilty about asking for more support when so many have already sent their good wishes. But now too many have got in touch saying ‘please shout it from the rooftops’ for me to ignore!
“You see, I am one of the lucky ones. Not only did I pray every night for months when Derek’s life hung in the balance to have the chance to care for him, also I have supportive employers and family and friends to help. Millions care day in day out alone.”
Kate and Derek married in 2005, and share two teenage children.
Throughout Derek’s health issues, the daytime star has been candid when updating the public on his condition, and won praise in 2021 for the documentary Kate Garraway: Finding Derek, which won a National Television Award.
Earlier this year, she followed this with a second documentary, subtitled Caring For Derek, which dealt with how her family life had changed in the wake of the former political adviser’s illness.
Speaking about how her relationship with Derek has changed in the past two years, Kate said in February: “I think a new path is emerging, a new way to be in love.
“He puts huge trust in me. He just says ‘Whatever you think’, which is wonderful, but I do get quite tearful about it. I think ‘God, I hope I’m worthy of that trust’.
“But I’ve got his back. That is a relationship in itself, isn’t it? How many times do couples have doubts about each other? That’s a positive thing to come out of this, to have that certainty of each other. He and I are very close.”