Kate Garraway has opened up about her children's experience with her husband Derek Draper's debilitating illness after contracting COVID back in 2020, admitting that they have their own "traumas".
Joining Holly Willoughby and Josie Gibson on This Morning, the TV personality spoke about her children Darcey and William, and how they have handled their dad's long-term health struggles over the past three years. Watch the clip here…
Speaking about how the strength of her love has helped Derek and herself through hard times, Kate added: "And 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.
© Instagram"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."
Kate also spoke about a very difficult period of her life after she suffered a health crisis herself and was forced to miss Good Morning Britain after suffering heart palpitations and vomiting on the way to the studio.
© Photo: Rex"I don't want to make it about my health," she explained. "But I think it was one of those times where you think - it was serious - and it was at those moments when I thought, 'I'm now properly failing at everything.' I didn't feel like I was being a great mum because I was so stretched. I didn't feel like I was being the best advocate for Derek. I didn't feel like I was doing anything. And I thought, 'My God, I can't even go on air. I'm a useless employee.' And you just have one of those massive crunch moments, don't you?
© Instagram"The thing is though is that I'm so flipping lucky because, you know, ITV, great bosses, supportive employers. I work at Smooth Radio, they've been amazing too. And I still get to come to work where there are millions of people who are just in this suffocating bubble of loving the person they're caring for. But also thinking, how do I make this work?"
© Photo: InstagramFortunately, Kate revealed that Derek has recently been doing well, explaining: "[He] actually had a really good day yesterday. He had an infection over the last couple of weeks which is receding. He seemed brighter in himself. He seemed very present because the cognition is very variable. We had a nice little sort of get together. We watched the 1% Club with the kids and it felt like a lovely family moment."
What was Kate Garraway's health scare?
After being taken ill on the way to the ITV studios back in November, Kate went to A&E for an ECG after experiencing heart pains. Speaking to the Times, she revealed that a cardiologist told her: "You'll be pleased to know you aren’t having a heart attack right now. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem." She revealed that there had been proteins that indicated a heart attack detected in her blood.
