Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway has shared a poignant update almost one year since her husband Derek Draper was diagnosed with the virus.
Kate has been balancing her work on ITV’s GMB alongside raising the couple’s two children Darcey and Billy since Derek was admitted to hospital in March last year. He has been battling Covid-19 ever since and remains in a critical condition.
Whilst Kate and their children were able to visit Derek at Christmas, the presenter has previously spoken of her heartbreak at not being able to see him since December. Now nearly twelve months after Derek first fell ill, Kate has opened up in a deeply personal interview about what she feels she has learnt during this hugely difficult past year.
Speaking to Hello! magazine, the ITV daytime telly star revealed that: "In the darkest of times you can find goodness and love just when you need it most and helping each other is the only way we will get through this grimmest of times."
"I've learnt about the kindness of strangers. It has been the toughest of times for me and my family, as it has for so many others and the good wishes and sympathy from viewers and listeners has really helped”, she explained. “To know so many people are thinking of me and sending love has given me hope and strength and I'm very grateful."
This emotional reflection comes as Kate assured an ICU doctor that he “shouldn’t feel sorry” for keeping family members away from Covid-19 patients. The GMB host spoke to Dr. Jim Down about his new book, as well as the pressure the virus has placed on doctors.
After the doctor expressed a sense of guilt at keeping family members away from hospitals, Kate revealed her belief that he was doing the right thing.
“You do talk about feeling guilt for separated relatives and having to sort of try to explain to them why they couldn’t be there, and why you often couldn’t get back to them.
“Just as somebody who’s on the other side of those phone calls you shouldn’t feel guilty because we do understand what you’re up against.”
Kate went on to thank him for what he and “all his colleagues and all the different teams in all the hospitals across the country” have done.
The GMB host has previously been open about the importance of abiding by current lockdown restrictions. Earlier this year she shared a poignant message from her daughter Darcey on the ITV show, urging people to follow the rules.
Recently, fellow ITV star and friend Lorraine Kelly blasted lockdown rulebreakers after seeing the toll the virus has taken on Kate and her family. Lorraine went on to share her admiration for the mother-of-two.
“She says she’s not doing anything that anybody else wouldn’t do but I’m not so sure about that. I think she’s remarkable,” she stated.
