He was left wheelchair-bound after Covid-19 destroyed his organs.
But Derek Draper was so far on the mend that he had finally managed to walk just nine days before suffering what proved to be a fatal cardiac arrest.
The revelation comes during the final scenes of Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story – an ITV programme presented by his wife which aired on Tuesday and documented his final year battling Long Covid.
A home video taken nine days before the cardiac arrest showed Mr Draper slowly but triumphantly lifting himself up out of his wheelchair and walking out the door of a hospital room.
Wearing an oversized maroon jumper, Mr Draper was lightly aided by his carer Jake and a walking frame – a far cry from the man viewers saw earlier in the programme barely able to swallow a spoonful of Weetabix.
Derek Draper was so far on the mend that he had finally managed to walk just nine days before suffering what proved to be a fatal cardiac arrest, it was revealed in documentary Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story on Tuesday
Since emerging from a Covid-19-induced coma in 2020, Mr Draper was left wheelchair-bound and underwent stringent physiotherapy classes to try to regain strength in his body.
Harrowing scenes, prior to the final one, had shown Mr Draper branding himself ‘pathetic’ and wailing in despair when he tried and failed to lift himself up onto a walking frame.
A desperate Ms Garraway encouraged her husband of 19 years throughout and on one occasion she had to do so over FaceTime while working on air for her Smooth Radio show.
The Good Morning Britain presenter shockingly revealed the financial strain paying for Mr Draper’s care bills has left her in, so much so that she couldn’t afford to have the heating on last October.
In an astonishing confession, Ms Garraway said that she was unable to warm up the family home in North London towards the end of the psychologist’s four-year battle with Covid.
Speaking on her documentary last October, Ms Garraway said: ‘It’s the brutal reality that Derek’s salary is over and his expenses are up.
‘We haven’t got the heating on anywhere but in his room. Everything is more expensive. I don’t know what to do.’
By the time he passed away, she had racked up £800,000 of debt as Mr Draper needed round-the-clock care which cost a minimum of £576,000 over four years.
A home video taken nine days before the cardiac arrest showed Mr Draper slowly but triumphantly lifting himself up out of his wheelchair and walking out the door of a hospital room
Harrowing scenes, prior to the final one, had shown Mr Draper branding himself ‘pathetic’ and wailing in despair when he tried and failed to lift himself up onto a walking frame
Despite her fame, she was left bereft and during the show vowed to campaign for change so that others don’t have to suffer as she and her family did.
An emotional Ms Garraway said: ‘Having to fight the system that should be there to catch you when you fall but feels like, when you’re going through it, is there to catch you out.
‘And that’s what now, I want to be Derek’s legacy, to fight on for that change.’
Mr Draper was only able to say one or two words at a time after the coma damaged his vocal cords but during one particularly distressing moment, he was heard in a rough bout of depression shouting ‘You’re so mean to me’ to a bewildered Ms Garraway.
Reflecting on his final months, she said: ‘After the cardiac arrest, he was still breathing but could only hear so I said to him, ‘You know me I’m going to fight this all the way but if you can’t fight anymore and what you need now is peace don’t think about us. We’re going to be fine.’
‘An awful lot of what he had done was wanting to be there as a dad and a husband.
‘We had a different kind of love that we had before but it was love and even though it was chaotic and crazy and an absolute slog – in the midst of all that was family.’
After his death in January, Ms Garraway said: ‘A lot of people say, as a way of comforting me, ‘It must be a relief in a way that he’s out of pain and for you, your day isn’t consumed by caring for him.’
A desperate Ms Garraway encouraged her husband of 19 years throughout and on one occasion she had to do so over FaceTime while working on air for her Smooth Radio show
Mr Draper was only able to say one or two words at a time after the coma damaged his vocal cords but during one particularly distressing moment, he was heard in a rough bout of depression shouting ‘You’re so mean to me’ to a bewildered Ms Garraway
‘But there isn’t a relief. The one thing Derek has taught me is never to give up fighting for what is right.
‘It isn’t about Derek or me, it’s about having a society where caring isn’t a luxury, we are all going to need it.’
Further detail was given surrounding Ms Garraway’s near stress-induced heart attack in November 2022 which led her colleagues to say, ‘Kate you’re not ok’.
The mother-of-two had been on her way to present Smooth Radio when she had pains in her chest and threw up on herself in the car, according to her producer.
She had woken up at 2am with her arm immobile and severe chest pains and vomited on her bedroom floor.
Ms Garraway still allowed herself to be driven to the Good Morning Britain studio but was talked down by her doctor from going on air and was rushed to hospital before collapsing in A&E.
