Kate Garraway has revealed that her husband Derek Draper fell out of his wheelchair while travelling to hospital amid his long Covid battle.
The Good Morning Britain presenter recalled the “distressing moment” with her co-hosts on Friday, explaining that it happened while they were in a taxi – but didn’t say exactly when.
The broadcaster shared her and Draper’s experience while debating the current ambulance wait times and the possibility of taxis being sent out to 999 calls.
GP Anita Rajaj who works in Birmingham suggested that people should not be encouraged to jump in the back of a taxi, instead the emergency health services should be in a good position to take care of the volume of calls.
Responding to Dr. Rajaj’s suggestion, Garraway said: “I understand Dr Anita and I think all of us would salute what you’re saying, but what would you advise as a GP – someone is facing a wait, frightened that it’s a cardiac arrest, not strong enough or they don’t drive. What would you advise?
“What they’ve both raised is that the pressure is increasingly put on the individual to make medical decisions.
“I’ve used a lot of cabs for Derek to go and from hospital appointments because the mobility services are very, very delayed. And ambulances are delayed.
“But if you try and book an official car, you can sometimes be waiting five hours for them to bring you home from hospital.
“He was in a lot of pain, it wasn’t sustainable – so we took a cab home from the hospital and we went over a speed bump and he slipped out of the wheelchair.”
Following her admission, co-host Ben Shephard asked: “[Is it] something you never envisaged happening?”
To which she shared: “Well, it’s hard isn’t it? It’s hard to deal with. You want someone with you to manage that.
“I was really lucky because the cab driver was a black cab driver that had a mobility access – his father he had cared for post a stroke.
“So he was really good at handling someone with that condition. The two of us were hauling him back into the wheelchair, strapping him in and got him home.
“But I thought, ‘Gosh’, because there’s been many a time when taxi drivers say, ‘I don’t want to deal with this’. I’m not even sure I was meant to be dealing with this!”
When asked if she feels like she should have waited for emergency care, the former I’m A Celeb campmate said: “Well I don’t know because he was in such distress and pain.
“I think you’re having to, all the time as individuals, make calls which really you know you’re not qualified for that and it’s very difficult.”
On Thursday, Garraway discussed Draper’s hospital treatment at the height of the Covid crisis with Labour MP Emily Thornberry on Good Morning Britain, saying said how Draper would have died in three days if he was left untreated in hospital.
In December, the ITV star said that there “is no end point” to his care and explained that her new way of life can be “exhausting” for those around her.
