Kate Garraway has expressed her gratitude to the nurses who saved her husband Derek Draper's life, urging them to be rewarded for all their hard work during the pandemic.
In March 2020, 53-year-old Derek was admitted to hospital after he contracted coronavirus. He was placed into an induced coma as his blood oxygen levels severely dropped. The virus also attacked his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.
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Appearing on Thursday's Good Morning Britain, Kate revealed she is "desperate" for nurses to be rewarded following the sincere care they gave to Derek as she discussed the ongoing NHS pay rise row.
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"The problem is, and nobody could be more desperate for nurses to be rewarded than me," she told Pat Cullen from Royal College of Nurses.
"Nurses, I think, saved Derek's life and are still very involved in keeping him alive because it's the nursing care – as well of course as the brilliant doctors – but that care during those critical days and months made all the difference.
"But the problem is it was 2%, then 1%, then it was an independent review that decided 3%, and we are two trillion pounds worth in debt, and there are people in the private sector who work incredibly hard who are losing their jobs."
Kate's husband Derek spent one year in hospital
Probed further by co-host Richard Madeley on her thoughts on the pay row, the 54-year-old remarked: "If it was up to me you couldn't pay them enough. It's extraordinary what all members of the NHS did, but nurses particularly.
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"It's the detail in a critical situation like with a virus that nobody knew the impact of at the time Derek got sick. The detail, the cell count, a lot of that is passed to the nurses and it's getting that right that makes all the difference."
She concluded: "I can't say enough, of course they should get more. But it's a difficult job for the government to balance that… The job is not done and we want to make sure there's enough [NHS workers] to keep the job going."
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