KATE Garraway has revealed she was mistakenly told husband Derek Draper “may have died” during his covid-19 battle.
The Good Morning Britain presenter’s husband has been in hospital battling the virus and the devastating aftermath to his body for more than a year.
And now Kate has told how in the early months a hospital mistake saw her told her “may have died” – and she faced an agonising 24 hour wait to discover the truth.
Speaking to Trending In The Newsday Times, Kate said: “I was just sitting on the phone, waiting to know if he’d died or not.”
She was told: “He may have died. Somebody will call you back.”
Kate was forced to wait more than a day for news about her husband’s condition and had no idea if he was even alive.
She added: “Then it turned out that somebody had died who had a similar name to his.”
Kate also told how she had been repeatedly told to prepare herself for Derek’s death during the last year.
But he clung onto life and eventually doctors removed the drugs keeping him in an induced coma – though unfortunately he failed to wake up.
“The very worst moment was when they said he could be locked in for ever,” she added.
“And I just thought, this is a horror story. I don’t know if he’ll ever have any kind of life again. We just don’t know.”
I’m A Celebrity star Kate will star in a one-off documentary about Derek’s health battle – and the impact it has had on their lives.
Kate‘s unflinching account of her family’s trauma over the last 12 months will be laid bare in front of the cameras.
She will also meet survivors of the disease and discuss the long-term effects of the virus.
Whilst Derek has beaten Covid, he’s been unable to gain consciousness from his induced coma and is still in intensive care a year after catching the virus.
He remains in a critical condition and is now the UK’s longest surviving Covid-19 inpatient.
