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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Entertainment
Madeleine Bourne

GMB's Kate Garraway opens up about husband's 'frightening turn' after she disappeared from show

Kate Garraway is back on air with Good Morning Britain (GMB) after taking a three-week break from the show. Her husband, Derek, has been suffering from complications and poor health since contracting Covid-19 back in March 2020, and is now back in hospital.

For months after surviving Coronavirus, Derek Draper was left in a state of only partial consciousness. He was brought back from an induced coma, and required round-the-clock 24-hour care.

Kate and Derek's family home was modified to cater for the support he needs. However, The Daily Star reports he is now back in hospital after he took what Kate today (1 August) called a "frightening turn".

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Presenter Kate Garraway has been absent from GMB for a total of three weeks. Today (1 August) she's back on air with her fellow presenter, Richard Madeley.

Opening GMB this morning, Kate instantly addressed her prolonged absence. She said, "I'm sorry I dramatically disappeared and haven't been here for three weeks now.

"It was actually on air on GMB on July 9 and Derek had come out of hospital. He's been going in and out of hospital for a while."

Her husband had become "really unwell" as she received a call from his carer. They were yet to know that Derek was battling with severe sepsis.

"He'd come out of hospital the day before and I got a phone call from the person looking after him saying, 'Right, we're really worried'. So I whizzed home and it just sort of went 'boom' from there.

"We called an ambulance, went to A&E and they said he had very severe sepsis: life-threatening sepsis." Kate said this period was "really dramatic", and she took to GMB today to thank the A&E staff who dealt with Derek when he arrived.

She said: "Brilliant work by the A&E, absolutely extraordinary, because when you've got sepsis, the big challenge is find the source of infection quickly, and get the right antibiotics. His blood pressure was so low: 50 over 40."

The source of the infection happened to be Derek's kidneys. Kate explained: "Unfortunately his kidneys were really badly infected, blocked, and the challenge now is to save them, so that's where we've been for the last three weeks."

Getting the sepsis under control and now awaiting another procedure, Derek is out of intensive care. Kate said: "Fingers crossed on everything - one kidney [is] looking really good, [they just] just need to look at the other one."

The former GMTV presenter is now back presenting GMB as she awaits the recovery of her husband, Derek. GMB airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.

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