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Coronavirus

09th Apr 2021

Kate Garraway’s husband Derek returns home after a year in intensive care

Kate Garraway's husband Derek Draper has reportedly returned home from hospital.

Niamh Maher

Derek Draper had been in hospital for over a year

Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper has reportedly returned home from hospital after being admitted with Covid in March 2020.

According to reports, the 53-year-old was taken by ambulance to the couple’s north London home on Wednesday and he’ll be receiving round-the-clock care from home.

The former political adviser was placed in a coma over a year ago when he was admitted to hospital with Covid-19 symptoms. Garraway had recently been preparing for his possible return by making their home wheelchair-friendly, as seen in the documentary Finding Derek.

The documentary explored Draper’s illness and its effect on entire family, and featured Garraway speaking to people suffering from long Covid, NHS staff and other experts. In one scene she recalled being told by her husband’s doctors that he was the most seriously ill person they had seen who had remained alive.

According to The Sun, Draper has been taken off all machines and breathing apparatus but he will be receiving 24-hour care at the home, a source close to the family said, “Kate’s dreamt of this day for so long, and can’t thank wonderful NHS staff enough.”

They added: “The children, who have been so remarkably resilient, have been so, so happy to have their dad home. There have been a lot of happy tears from everyone.”

Garraway is set to release a book this month that will detail the “raw and emotional story” of her husband’s illness.