Kate Garraway has revealed that she is getting her home ready for the day her husband Derek will finally get to leave hospital.
Former Labour political aide Derek was first admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in March last year and had the worst coronavirus infection of any surviving patient.
He nearly died six times at the height of his fight with the virus, according to The Mirror.
And despite now being free from coronavirus, the 53-year-old continues to fight for his life in hospital as the virus has left lasting damage to his body.
As Derek has been in hospital for almost a year now, the Good Morning Britain host was forced to endure the toughest year of her life as she continued to care for their two children whilst working on the ITV show and Heart Radio.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Kate revealed that at the end of last year, she had their house fitted with ramps and widened doorways for wheelchair access, as well as installing a wet room.
"Even though we’ve got a new fridge, we took a photo of the old one and put back everything in the exact same position because he was obsessed with the way the pictures on the fridge were. His hat’s in the hall and I’ve not wanted to move his shoes."
Kate admitted that ahead of Boris Johnson's lockdown announcement, Kate had hoped to have Derek return home from hospital for a few hours.
"He’d been in hospital for nearly a year and I do wonder if he’s become institutionalised. I wonder if there’s a little bit of emotional lockdown going on," she said.
However after the Prime Minister announced that a third lockdown was on the way, it sadly meant that Kate was unable to see her husband for months on end.
As it's coming up on a year since Derek was hospitalised, Kate says: "I feel like he is in an ocean of unconsciousness and sometimes he comes up to the surface.
"In the run-up to Christmas there were moments of consciousness where I felt like we were really communicating… But then the focus of the concentration disappears, and he’s gone."
