Kate Garraway breaks down in tears as she discusses husband Derek’s battle with…

Kate Garraway admitted she ‘doesn’t know’ if her critically-ill husband Derek can recover from the damage coronavirus has inflicted on his body during an emotional interview on Friday’s Good Morning Britain.

The presenter, 53, cried as she revealed Derek, 52, is now free from coronavirus but is continuing to fight against the after-effects – and may be in a coma for a year.

She said: ‘Well there will be tears, I’ll try to keep them down, he’s still with us, he has fought the most extraordinary battle, the fact that he’s still here and holding on.’

‘I am so grateful that he’s still here, and I’ve got the option of praying while others have lost that. 

‘He’s very, very sick and as time goes on, it’s a virus, it’s like a computer virus, the doctors manage one but there seems to be a flicker of hope and other things emerge and they’re fighting that.

‘It has affected him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes.’ 

She said: ‘He is now COVID free, he has tested negative, the fight with the virus is over but it’s wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don’t know if he can recover from that. 

Kate spoke for the first time about Derek’s initial admission to hospital in March, revealing the last thing he said to her before he was put in a coma, was ‘you saved my life.’   

She said: ‘In that first week it looked like he was rallying.

‘But then he was very bad, he couldn’t really speak to me, he could shout things to me on speakerphone.

‘He was begging me, he said “I can’t take this, I feel like I’m suffocating”, he said “please let them put me in a coma” and they didn’t want to do that.

‘On Sunday they’re said “we’re going to put him in a coma as overnight we think we have to do that.”‘

‘He said: “I love you, I’m sorry I have to leave you, you’ve saved my life”.’

‘I think he thought I had asked the doctors to put in him in a coma.

‘He said “being married to you, the children, you saved my life”.’    

Derek is best-known for his career as a former lobbyist who suffered a fall from grace when he was embroiled in two scandals.

He was a former adviser to Tony Blair’s government and known for his party lifestyle.

During his time as a political adviser he was embroiled in two political scandals – 1998’s Lobbygate and in 2009 a scandal surrounding LabourList, the website he edited. 

In 1998 he was caught in a sting by an undercover Observer reporter, bragging about his access to goverment ministers.

The Lobbygate scandal led to his Daily Express column being axed, the loss of his lobbying job and his firing from his role as editor of New Labour Magazine Progress.

He previously told The Scotsman: ‘Everyone assumes I got depressed because of the scandal. 

‘Actually, I had been depressed for two years, from around 1996. I thought I had a physical virus. I’d always been quite arrogant and cocky, but I think I put all my unhappiness into my obsession with the Labour Party.

‘The really spectacular breakdown came two years into my depression with the lobbying thing. That was the killer.’

Depression he had been battling for two years turned into a nervous breakdown, with Derek spending a month in the Priory and undergoing therapy.  

He went on to write two books – Blair’s 100 Days and Life Support – before moving to LA for three years and retraining as a psychotherapist. 

When he returned to the UK, GMTV’s political correspondent, Gloria De Piero, offered to set him up with her friend and colleague Kate Garraway. 

Derek said: ‘I haven’t been depressed for years, since just before I met Kate, who has changed me for the better anyway.

‘I eventually realised I had been masking the depression for years with overwork, drinking or womanising… the drink, drugs and promiscuity, were all toys and inside, unbeknownst to me, the little child part of me was in the driving seat.’  

Kate and Derek have been married for 14 years, with the former lobbyist cheering his wife on for the duration of her stint on I’m A Celebrity last year, he flew out to Australia with their two children to meet her. 

The couple, who wed in September 2005, have previously discussed their union, with Derek admitting that he feared she was ‘a high-maintenance TV bimbo’. 

Following her stint on I’m A Celebrity, the couple were planning to renew their vows in the coming months.    

Kate went on to say Derek did not have any underlying health conditions and doctors were unable to explain why the virus had affected him in the way it had. 

Kate said: ‘He just got it very, very, very badly and we don’t know why. When you speak to the doctors, there’s so many things they tell you about to help you understand what he’s going through. 

‘There’s various markers that tell you how much infection is in his body when it was really raging. 

‘At one point, he was being transferred to a different hospital, there’s an enzyme the liver produces which goes up when you’re fighting infection, healthy it would be under 10, if it goes up to 200 then you’re really sick. 

‘When Derek was admitted to the second hospital, he was 1286. He was off the scale with infection. 

‘His lungs were solid and nobody thought he’d live. So it’s just extraordinary he’s still here.

‘I’m so proud of him and most of all, the doctors and nurses around him are just incredible. They’re incredible with what they’ve done, with a disease they’re learning about every day.’

Speaking about the start of Derek’s illness, she said: ‘Derek had a painful shoulder for a couple months, and had been taking medication and having scans

‘He was due to have a steroid injection, he felt unwell and was home tutoring the kids

‘I got back and said ‘you don’t you look right babe, i think it’s the painkillers.’

‘I just had this weird feeling, asked if he had a cough. He didn’t, he said ‘I think I’ve got weird sinusitis.”

‘I rang the doctor, I said ‘you don’t look great, no real feeling that it’s COVID, he had none of those symptoms.’

‘Around the 29/30 March, I came home came in and said ‘god you look ill.’

 ‘He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe, 

‘I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance

‘I said ‘I can’t believe I’m calling an ambulance’, I was very scared.’

‘He said we need to take him to hospital straightaway, he didn’t have a temperature, and I helped him down the stairs 

‘He’d never been to hospital before, he never really gets ill and they put a mask on him to breathe

‘He said to the kids: ‘You’re the best children anyone could ask for, be good for mum, look after her and that was it. He went straight to intensive care.’

Kate also moved host Ben Shephard to tears as she explained the impact Derek’s illness was having on his beloved children Darcey, 14, and William, 10.    

She said: ‘I need to make them feel safe, they’ve lost their dad for the time being, they have been amazing. 

‘They have both been doing anything to find little moments of joy, so we can still smile. Derek says you’ve got to laugh, you’ve got to be silly.’  

‘Billy is going back to school on Monday, he said ‘I don’t want to go back to school before dad’s better’.’

‘Darcey has been on Amazon trying to get him some cool t-shirts. He’s going back on Monday and that is what we have to do now.  

‘I’ve got to give them some life. Darcey and I will be home tutoring. It’s carrying on with life when life isn’t certain.’

Speaking more about the ‘silly’ moments, Kate revealed: ‘There was a brilliant, ridiculous moment when Derek was obviously stuck in the coma and it wasn’t the three to five days that we had hoped.

‘Darcey did the thing that teenagers do – was on the internet looking up things about coma and she said, ‘Mum, I was just reading about Covid. Sometimes when people come out of a coma they have completely different accents. One woman could speak fluent Mandarin.’

‘And we were hysterical about the idea of Derek waking up really posh with a posh accent or suddenly speaking Mandarin.

‘And I saw the look of relief that she was laughing and she said, ‘Mum, it’s going to be okay.’ 

Billy was furious actually. He said, ‘I don’t want him to have a posh accent, I want him to talk Geordie!’ 

Kate said that doctors are navigating a field of uncertainty when it comes to Derek’s prognosis, saying: ‘They can’t say he can’t recover, they can’t say he will recover. We don’t know how long it will take 

‘Weeks and months, it could be up to a year, I am praying there will be progress before then.’ 

The star said the stark reality of Derek’s illness had only just started to hit her in the last two weeks, crediting her career as a journalist for allowing her to deal with difficult situations in a calm manner.   

She said: ‘Very early on, I spoke to Piers [Morgan] and he said, ‘Right, come on Garraway, you’re a journalist this is the story of your life. You’re focused on Derek, you’ve got to get all the information you can.’ 

‘And that actually really helped because I thought ‘I’ve got a job’. Because we’re in free- fall. I’ve got a job – to fight for Derek, keep life safe for Darcey and Billy and that forced me into that ‘Breaking news mode’. 

‘When something awful happens and you’re on air, you need to not think about the emotion of it, you have to think about doing your job. I rode that for weeks and weeks and weeks.’

She added: ‘Then two weeks ago, I crashed, because you can’t stay like that forever. I have huge hope and massive positivity and I’ll never give up on that, because Derek’s the core of my life and our lives. 

‘But at the same time, I have absolute uncertainty, mum, dad sisters, and the doctors don’t know because they’ve never seen this before.

‘One doctor said this to me he is the worst affected person he’s had to treat that’s lived. This is an evil virus.’

‘I don’t want to scare people, Derek’s situation is extremely rare, some of the damage he’s got, hes only one of five ppl they have seen it in 

‘I was praying, please don’t let him die. We think of COVID as you live, mercifully, or die.

‘More and more people are living but with completely unforseen consequences 

‘I can’t thank all of the doctors and nurses who have been involved with this.’ 

‘It is an absolute miracle he’s still here. If I could just have one more and he could just make that next step….

Kate was inundated with support from fans who lauded her bravery for speaking openly about Derek’s condition on television, with GMB host Susanna Reid, Laura Tobin, Lorraine Kelly and Georgia Toffolo tweeting in support of her.

Former Labour party leader Ed Miliband also gave his best wishes to Kate and Derek, who he has worked with as a lobbyist.

He said: ‘I’ve known Derek for 25 years, obvs I’ve known Kate well, and all my thoughts go out and good wishes to her and Derek at the moment. 

‘She was so brave during the interview, and these are incredibly difficult times for her, this is a very personal thing for me

‘I knew Derek when he was a researcher early on in the House Of Commons, he loves politics, even thought he’s not in it at the moment, but he’s an extraordinary person .

‘He and Kate are extraordinary people and they are an amazing family, and our hearts go out to them all, she’s just showing incredible bravery and courage during this time, all my hopes are with him in the days and weeks ahead.’  

This comes as Kate and her children clapped for carers on Thursday night, a week after the official tribute ended. 

The Good Morning Britain host took to Instagram to share a video of herself and her children applauding key workers in her kitchen.  

Kate said in the video: ‘Thank you NHS’, and smiled as her children clapped for the camera. 

The television personality wrote: ‘No official #clapforcarers tonight but we just wanted have our own mini one as our heart felt thanks go on to all fighting to keep Derek with us. 

‘Tomorrow I will have the chance to update you & thank you for all your support on @gmb – see you at seven. #hope #staypositive’. 

A host of stars commented on Kate’s post. Nicola McLean typed: ‘Sending you all so much love’, while Kimberley Walsh posted a red love heart emoji.

Helen Skelton added: ‘Sending love’. 

Kate has not been on Good Morning Britain since Derek fell ill in March. 

Last week, Kate wiped away tears as she took part in a nationwide applause in honour of the NHS key workers for the final Clap for Carers.

She also shared an update about Derek in a heartfelt Instagram post, revealing while her ‘heart sinks everyday’ her husband is ‘still here’ although his battle is ‘far from over’.  

Back in April it was revealed that Derek had been hospitalised with COVID-19 while Kate and their children isolated at home after she displayed ‘mild symptoms.’  

Just days before, the presenter voiced her fears on Good Morning Britain after meeting with Prince Charles before he tested positive for coronavirus.

She spoke about their encounter live on air, revealing that the pair had got ‘relatively close’ at the Prince’s Trust Awards on March 11.

Kate’s spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Kate’s husband, Derek Draper, has been taken to hospital and is being treated in intensive care with a confirmed case of COVID-19.

He was admitted on Monday and has since tested positive for the virus.

‘Kate, hasn’t been tested, however she has also been displaying mild symptoms, also since Monday, and as a result has been on strict isolation with her children at home.’  

Shortly after Kate met Prince Charles on March 11, GMB played footage of the two together.

The presenter pointed out: ‘We’re relatively close there, as indeed were all the other people that were involved in that.

Kate has kept followers updated throughout Derek’s ongoing battle, taking part in the weekly Clap For Carers celebration honouring those on the frontline.  

She previously wrote: ‘We had a an extra special reason to #clapthecarers in our house tonight but there’s a special reason for us all isn’t there.

‘Thank thank you to all the health workers caring for our loved ones and key workers keeping our lives going [clapping emojis] you are incredible.’ 

She also detailed how she had FaceTimed her comatose husband during the weekly Clap For Carers initiative and gushed that she ‘believed he can hear us’.

During the video call, Kate beamed as she watched children light smoke coloured flares, while talking to her husband, who she believes could hear her.

Kate took to Instagram to share a video of her son Billy showing a lego version of his family with Derek taking centre stage on a stand, for his dad to have at his hospital bedside.

The following morning, Ben then read out her post, saying: ‘So our #nhsclap was a little different tonight. We still clapped & cheered as much as ever but I couldn’t film on my phone as had Derek on FaceTime throughout!

‘Of course we can’t KNOW but I believe he can hear us [he’s still in a coma] & thought at least the incredible @nhs team’s looking after him would hear our gratitude…

‘Love to all in these terrible times – the separation from loved ones whatever the reason is so tough.’