Kate Garraway admits 'we never feel Derek is safe' in emotional update

Kate Garraway has given a heartbreaking update on husband Derek Draper's health, admitting she "never feels like he is safe".

Draper, 56, is the UK's worst affected living COVID patient, having spent a year in hospital after contracting the virus and still needing round-the-clock care now that he is back at home.

Good Morning Britain host Garraway, 56, has two children with Draper and has made two award-winning documentaries about how his illness has affected their lives, as well as publishing two books about their experiences.

Now, she has told podcast Emotionally Speaking, hosted by Peter Leonard, that she and her family still never feel Draper is quite out of the woods with his illness and complications.

Read more: Kate Garraway speaks candidly about realities of life with Derek Draper (HuffPost, 3 min read)

She said: "He is living in the world of the unknown, when he wakes up in the morning it is heartbreaking because it feels as though you are watching someone who may have been inhabiting his old life in his dreams and then he wakes up and you see the cloud descend of the battle he has ahead."

Garraway also told the podcast: "One of the challenges with Derek is we've never felt like he is safe, so every infection and rush back to hospital might be the moment he is taken from us. We are still hopeful he will improve but we have no clear timeline on this."

But despite the sad explanation of Draper's day-to-day life, she added: "But if you look back, there is some progress, he has more words now and his voice is stronger.

"You occasionally get a little bit of a Chorley accent in there so it feels like he is more present, but he still can't sit up without assistance and his life isn't his own."

Draper had previously worked as a lobbyist and a political advisor, and talking about the huge shift in his life Garraway said: "His brain had always been his ally and friend, but now it is his enemy. I think he's had a big emotional struggle."

In September, Garraway had spoken to Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden for Heart Breakfast where she had also spoken about her constant worries for her husband.

She said: "We still don’t know just how much better Derek can get, or worse. So really every time he has a rush into hospital, we’re still in that adrenaline phase of, 'is this the moment where he could be taken from us'. But also, there’s so many spikes of progression that no one’s giving up hope that there isn’t going to be a movement forward. So it’s managing that rollercoaster."

In October, speaking at the Pride of Britain Awards she had added that he was facing further struggles, saying: "He’s not doing great, to be honest. But the battle goes on."