Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper ‘is hospitalised AGAIN for serious medical procedure’
Kate Garraway‘s husband Derek Draper has allegedly been hospitalised again for a ‘serious’ medical procedure on Thursday, amid his long-Covid battle.
The former political advisor, 54, became the longest suffering patient with the virus in the UK, after spending 13 months in hospital when he contracted it in March 2020.
Good Morning Britain‘s Kate, 55, ensured she was by her partner’s bedside, it was reported, after taking time away from the show last month to care for him.
Terrifying: Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper has allegedly been hospitalised again for a ‘serious’ medical procedure on Thursday (pictured in 2020)
A source told The Sun: ‘This is another hammer blow for poor Derek. He is giving the fight against Covid his absolute all, but his kidneys have suffered some pretty serious damage.
‘Doctors explained there was no alternative but to operate. Of course Kate and the family are worried but she’s been reassured the procedure itself is routine.
‘Everyone has everything crossed, and Kate is being her usual stoical self and keeping everything running, business as usual, on the home front.’
Representatives for Derek have been contacted by MailOnline, with Kate’s declining to comment.
Tough time: Good Morning Britain’s Kate, 55, ensured she was by her partner’s bedside, it was reported, after taking time away from the show last month to care for him (pictured Thursday)
It comes after Kate revealed she is spending ‘pretty much all my time in hospital’ as she shared a brief update on husband Derek during Thursday’s GMB.
The TV presenter’s partner was rushed to hospital with ‘life-threatening sepsis’ last month during his ongoing recovery from Covid.
Speaking on her show, Kate mentioned her husband’s health battle during a conversation with new host Paul Brand.
The two presenters were interviewing rail union boss Mick Lynch amid the rail strikes enveloping the UK’s train network this week.
She told the RMT union boss of her own experiences with rail staff recently, praising their hard work amid staff shortages as she revealed that she has been spending a lot of time on public transport.
Kate explained: ‘I’ve had reason for the last couple of weeks to spend pretty much all of my time on trains, or in hospital with Derek. And I found the staff to be extraordinary’.
Kate took three weeks off work at GMB in July after Derek, who has suffered a string of medical issues since contracting Covid in 2020, was rushed to hospital.
Addressing the terrifying health scare on her first show back on August 1, Kate revealed Derek, 54, had developed a kidney infection that developed dangerous complications.
Return: The presenter returned to GMB on August 1 after taking time off when the health of Derek – who has suffered a string of medical issues since contracting Covid in 2020 – declined
The former lobbyist contracted sepsis and is now at risk of losing one of his kidneys, although he has been moved out of intensive care and is now in the hospital’s high-dependency unit.
Kate explained Derek had been in and out of hospital with minor health concerns until July 9 when she was on air.
She said: ‘I got a phone call from the person who was looking after him saying, “Right, we’re really worried”. I whizzed home and it just sort of went boom from there.
‘We called an ambulance, went to A and E, where they said he had very severe sepsis, life-threatening sepsis. So it was really dramatic.’
Concern: Kate returned to social media to reveal husband Derek had been ‘fighting for his life’ after taking an ‘unexpected and frightening’ turn for the worst
Kate penned: ‘Thanks to the amazing nhs teams & his own extraordinary life force & spirit Derek – please god – is back on the right side of it now [sic]
After praising the efforts of medical staff, Kate explained they needed to quickly find the source of infection and get Derek onto the right antibiotics.
She continued: ‘His blood pressure was so low. A really junior doctor said, “What did you think it might be?” He knew it wasn’t Covid-19 because we tested before we left the hospital on the Thursday.
‘I said, “Well I did wonder if it was a urine infection, but weirdly we couldn’t get anything for a sample.” And they just went, “Kidneys”‘.
‘Unfortunately, his kidneys were really badly infected, blocked. The challenge now is to save them. So that’s where we’ve been for the last three weeks.’
Kate confirmed her husband is still in hospital ‘waiting for his next procedure’ but is no longer on an intensive care ward.
She said: ‘One kidney is looking really good, just need to look at the other one. Still in high dependency.’
The presenter took a leave of absence from GMB order to be by her ailing husband’s side following his hospitalisation three weeks ago.
Addressing the issue for the first time she wrote in an Instagram post: ‘Thank you so so much for all your messages of support – they really do mean the world to me & the whole family.
‘I have taken some time off @gmb @smoothradio & in the last 3 weeks as Derek’s health took an unexpected & frightening turn for the worse that landed him back in intensive care & fighting for his life – again.’
She added: ‘Thanks to the amazing nhs teams & his own extraordinary life force & spirit Derek – please god – is back on the right side of it now and Im so looking forward to seeing you all back on @gmb’.
Struggles: The presenter took a leave of absence from GMB order to be by her ailing husband’s side following his hospitalisation three weeks ago (pictured in 2019)
She accompanied her message with a photo of herself, Derek and the couple’s two children, Darcy 16, and William, 12.
Sources close to Kate told the Daily Mail that the mother of two ‘has a lot on caring for him’, and has decided to step back from her TV and radio roles following his admittance to hospital in July.
She revealed at the time that Derek was back in hospital after suffering a ‘downturn’, but added she was ‘keeping her fingers crossed’ that his health could improve, two years after contracting Covid.
Earlier this month Kate admitted she was taking things ‘day by day’ after Derek was re-admitted to hospital, telling The Sun: ‘He’s been in hospital a couple of months now. He’s been coming in and out.
‘Hopefully he’ll come out again. Hopefully tonight. I’m crossing my fingers. I’m really tired but I take it day by day to level out the ups and downs.’
On July 6 Kate revealed that Derek, who has required round-the-clock care since he contracted coronavirus in March 2020, had returned to a medical facility, insisting he was ‘OK’.
Last month Kate admitted she was feeling ‘exhausted and fretful’ as Derek continued to go in and out of hospital.
In May, she also missed a week of hosting Good Morning Britain following ‘urgent’ issues at home.
Derek returned home from hospital in April 2021 after a year-long battle and still requires round-the-clock care in the midst of his lengthy recovery.