Kate Garraway gives moving update on husband Derek Draper's condition

3 August 2020, 11:19

Kate Garraway wanted to donate her blood plasma to husband Derek Draper after she recovered from COVID-19

Kate Garraway has given an update on the health of her husband Derek Draper who is still in hospital after contracting coronavirus at the end of March, and being put into an induced coma in early April.

While Derek is now clear of Covid-19, he continues to battle the effects of the virus.

Smooth Radio presenter Kate Garraway shared an update while appearing on Good Morning Britain to reveal he is now receiving therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE).

Kate noted it was frustrating to have only just started as she had offered to donate blood to him months ago.

Speaking Dr Amir Khan on the show, Kate said: "I was looking for anything that I was able to do. But they said we are months away from being confident enough to clean your blood."

Dr Amir said: "The government are asking people who have been found positive to donate their plasma."

Kate pointed out: "The doctors that I was speaking to in America were doing it regularly [for months]... why were we slow to do this?"

Dr Amir confirmed that it wasn't due to a lack of knowledge that they hadn't done so, but more due to a lack of technology and resources.

Read more: Kate Garraway gives new update on husband Derek Draper's health: ‘He has damage everywhere’

He said: "I agree with you, it should have been used earlier."

Kate also revealed her children Darcey, 14, and Billy, 11, had visited their grandparents for the first time in months.

The 53-year-old said: "My children have gone for the first time to stay away from home - they've gone to stay with Derek's mum and dad.

Kate Garraway says she doesn't know if her husband will ever recover

"Derek's mum and dad have been shielding since the beginning of March because they both feel vulnerable.

"So this was a very big deal for them to have the children to stay, and also very important because they haven't seen their grandchildren in a while.

"Very important for Billy and Darcey because they haven't seen their grandparents as well.

"So one of the thing we did was to plan over several weeks what to do. So I thought, right, we have to be very clear - we have to isolate in the days before they leave to travel.

"I actually washed and packed Billy and Darcey's clothes to seal them for quite a few days just in case there was anything problematic there."

Everyone at Smooth is thinking of Derek, Kate, Darcey and Billy, and continue to wish for Derek's recovery.