Kate Garraway says husband Derek Draper may be locked in a coma ‘forever’

Kate Garraway has revealed that her husband Derek Draper may be trapped in a coma forever, with doctors warning her to prepare for the ‘second worst case scenario.’

In an interview with The Sun, the Good Morning Britain host, 53, opened up on Derek’s devastating battle with coronavirus, which she says ‘attacked everything.’

Derek, 52, was admitted to hospital on March 30, after struggling to breathe. Kate and their children Billy, 10, and Darcey, 14, also experienced mild coronavirus symptoms.  

Speaking to the publication, Kate said she received a ‘terrible phone call’ two weeks ago from a senior doctor in the intensive care unit.   

The presenter explained: ‘My first question, the one I always ask when the hospital call, was, ‘Is Derek still alive?’ and he said he was, but then asked me what my greatest fear was.

‘I said, “Derek dying” and he replied, ‘Well, now I think I have to give you a second worst case scenario, which is that he never changes from this, that he is locked in this for ever’.

‘He said, “I’m not telling you this to scare you. It’s because we don’t know if he can recover. We’ll only know over the coming weeks and months”, I threw up, there and then.’

Kate said she never imagined she would be told her husband may be trapped in a comatose permanently.

The Good Morning Britain host described it as the ‘second level of loss’, saying even if he doesn’t die, if he doesn’t wake up she will have lost him anyway.

The mother-of-two went on to explain how the virus has wreaked havoc with Derek’s body. 

She told how the illness ‘attacked everything’ before heartbreakingly admitting that ‘We don’t know if he can recover. 

The former lobbyist is now covid-free but is suffering from serious complications.

While he is able to breathe through a tracheotomy and the hope is everyday he will rely on the breathing support less,  an MRI scan revealed he has holes in his heart, is on kidney dialysis, has a damaged liver and pancreas and is now diabetic, which he wasn’t before. 

Kate said doctors had been trying to pull Derek out of his comatose state for the past three weeks, but he hasn’t managed to regain consciousness. 

She went on to compare watching his battle to ‘like spinning plates’, adding that should Derek recover, they are looking at ‘months of rehabilitation’.

The television star admitted at times she feels paralysed with fear, but vows to stay strong for their two children. 

Further discussing Derek’s progress, the star recalled that shortly before her birthday on May 4th, Derek opened his eyes for the ‘first time’, with the presenter hopeful that it was the beginning of his recovery.

But was she left crushed when his eyes closed once more, adding that there’s ‘no sense’ on whether he could actually see anything.

Kate told how she FaceTimes Derek every night whenever staff can do so as she’s not permitted to be in the ward due to infection risk, but admitted that it was ‘agonising’ not knowing whether her being there in person would make a difference.

Recalling the start of Derek’s battle, Kate told how he was taken into surgery to have a ECMO machine (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) fitted in his leg as quickly as possible.

She said she was told there was a 50% risk of Derek’s heart stopping or of him having a stroke, but doctors warned that if the procedure didn’t take place, Derek was at risk of dying that very night. 

She was later told that it did in fact stop, but doctors got it going again.