Kate Garraway has confirmed the tragic news that her husband, Derek Draper, has passed away after struggling with many health problems since contracting COVID in 2020. Derek suffered a heart attack in December that left him hospitalised, with Kate since confirming that he was left critically ill, and was surrounded by family when he died in hospital in January.
READ: Kate Garraway announces her 'darling' husband Derek Draper's death
Kate and Derek shared two children, Darcey, 17, and 14-year-old Billy, whom Kate has often praised due to their relationship with their father throughout his illness. From being overwhelmed with their love and support to how the teenagers would spend time with their dad, here is everything Kate has said about the kids caring for Derek…
Darcey and Billy’s reaction to Derek’s health condition
Derek spent a great deal of time in hospital in 2020, with the family unable to visit due to COVID-19 restrictions. As such, Kate revealed how Darcey and Billy would communicate with him via FaceTime, telling HELLO!: "We're keeping positive and doing everything we can to bring him around. The children and I communicate with him every day on FaceTime, while a nurse holds his iPad. My priority is to make the children feel safe, not to let them see me feeling vulnerable in the world where Derek was my rock."
She continued: "During their chats, they tell him what they've been doing, and their sense of humour often shines through. Darcey, who wants to be a barrister, said: 'Dad, you'd better get better soon because I'm getting cleverer every day. You'll never win an argument if you don't get well soon.'" She added: "Darcey even told him about how she put together a flatpack of furniture for her bedroom. 'Mum's useless. She can't use a screwdriver. I wish you were here, Dad.'"
The kids also wanted to help with Derek’s recovery in October of the same year, when they persuaded Kate to decorate for Halloween, their dad’s favourite holiday, to lift his spirits. At the time, Kate posted: "Tough day as Derek loves #halloween - but the kids have encouraged me to get some of his favourite spooky kit out to celebrate him and feel better for it. Happy #halloween everyone."
Darcey and Billy in Finding Derek
Following Derek’s return home, Kate spoke about how the children were "beside themselves" when he was back from hospital. Speaking on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 show, she said: "He isn't really able to speak at the moment so he can't tell him off, I have to be the bad guy! They are beside themselves to have him home. They are my heroes. They know instinctively how to talk to him but not ask too much from him. In a way that grownups want to see the old Derek, they have an instinct, there is a lot of love there."
In an Instagram post, Kate spoke about their return to 'normal' life with Darcey and Billy, writing: "Well this was a moment - the first time the kids & I have been out to “something” other than school or work since Derek got sick. It was a magic show we were supposed to be heading to when he was rushed into hospital - and we felt strange that we were going out to one when he isn’t ready to - YET.
"But it was so wonderful to see Darcey and Billy enthralled and mystified and enraptured - the magic of life returning. And I know that’s what Derek wants too. It was unnerving to be with so many people after so long and the kids were wide-eyed and more than a little disorientated to be in the centre of London with all the buzz but excited too. I couldn’t believe my eyes welled up at the spirit and celebration and pure joy of the performers getting the chance to entertain again - magic back in the west end and in our lives."
Darcey and Billy also appeared in their mum’s documentary, Finding Derek, where they spoke about his condition. Darcey said: "We've heard rumours that he'll get better before next year but we really don't know."
Addressing his return to his home after the hospital, she continued: "It might be hard because he might still be hooked up to things to help him survive... It's not scary in the way that it looks scary, but it's scary to think that we might lose him."
Billy added: "Dad usually does LEGO with me the most, but since dad's not here I've been doing it on myself... I really want him back but we don't know if he's going to get better or not."
It was also a moment for the family when Kate revealed that she would be taking Darcey and Billy away for a holiday just the three of them, while Derek was being looked after by carers. Speaking on GMB, she said: "I had a very tight window where I could get everybody to come and look after Derek so I could take the kids away. Obviously, he has nurses as well. Also, I could get somewhere where I could find friends to help us, as I think we're all quite emotional, the three of us, about going away without him and whether that feels a bit strange to do.
"I wondered whether that would feel too strange to do. It feels like a bit of a moment, my son Billy is a bit concerned. It feels strange but we need to do it, to have a little bit of time come back and be refreshed."
Troubling times for the family
Kate revealed some dark days where Darcey was concerned about her mother as well as her dad, explaining: "They [the kids] were at times wondering if I was going to be okay, was I going to be able to keep going. Darcey at one point actually said, "Mum - are you going to kill yourself?" Out of the blue.’ The thing is, that sounds horrific, obviously. But if you know Darcey, she's really blunt. She will always go to the most awful thing you can imagine and work her way back.
"She just came out with the sentence, and I said, "Oh my God, no. Why would you think that?" She said, "I wasn't, but I just thought I better check.'" At the time, Kate replied: "'If anything it's the absolute opposite. I can't imagine what would be more opposite. I'm so scared you thought of that.' And she was like, 'Don’t make a big thing of it.' It showed at the very least she wanted affirmation. And also made me realise she wasn't just worried about her dad, but thinking of me and her brother.
"I don't think I realised how much they were taking care of me quite a lot along the way. The first moment was they wanted to watch Father Brown and I thought, "This is a very odd thing for a teenager to be choosing to watch. But I realised they knew I loved it, and they wanted to do things for me."
Billy and Darcey in 2023
Kate spoke about her two children on This Morning in September 2023, explaining: "Love for him, for the Children. He is most alive when they're around. They are unbelievable. I haven't really talked a lot about them in some ways, but they've had their own traumas and it's not my story to tell. So maybe one day they'll tell it, I want to try and protect them in that way, but they've been amazing with him in their different ways. They're so intuitive and it is love, I guess, isn't it."
She also revealed a beautiful moment between Billy and Derek while on Loose Women, after Derek was able to comment on Billy’s new basketball, leaving her son in tears. She said: "It’s very much a whisper. I don’t think we’re necessarily going to have a conversation, but you get fantastic moments. Billy had a new basketball and was bouncing it, and he [Derek] said ‘is that new ball?’ He said: ‘It’s nice’…”
"Seeing him able to do that was amazing. Billy was in tears, they were hugging. It’s things like that that really lift you up, and the next day he was really still."