Kate Garraway has shared a deeply personal glimpse into her ongoing struggle since losing her husband, Derek Draper, earlier last year. The TV favorite opened up to The Sun about the emotional and physical toll that grief has taken, describing it as a “tsunami of sadness” that keeps washing over her.
Derek passed away in January 2024 after a gruelling four-year battle with complications from COVID-19. He’d first caught the virus in March 2020, and what followed was a long and painful journey that saw him spend over a year in hospital before finally being brought home to be cared for by Kate, reported OK! Magazine.
Even now, months after his death, Kate says the habits of caregiving are hard to shake. “I still wake up in the middle of the night panicking that I haven’t given him his medicine, or that I have forgotten to move him every hour to prevent the painful contractions in his limbs,” she admitted. That panic fades into a bittersweet realization that her caring duties are no longer needed, and with that comes a wave of heartache. “There is a moment of relief – that I did not let him down – before a tsunami of sadness hits,” she said.
Looking back, Kate described how caring for Derek completely consumed her life. “You don’t begrudge it, but you suffer because of it,” she said with stark honesty. It’s clear that the role of caregiver came with an emotional price, one that’s still being paid.
The toll hasn’t just been emotional, either. Kate revealed her own health has taken a serious hit. During Derek’s illness, she neglected her autoimmune thyroid condition, which has now worsened to the point where she may need surgery. “It could have been avoided,” she said regretfully.
That deterioration follows a scare in 2023 when Kate was rushed to hospital with chest pains. The stress of trying to juggle everything had clearly been taking a silent toll for some time. She recalled the terrifying moment she woke up to her 2am Good Morning Britain alarm and realised she couldn’t move to switch it off. It was a red flag she couldn’t ignore.
Since Derek’s passing, Kate has tried to focus on her children, Billy and Darcy, and on slowly finding her way through the grieving process. Speaking to The Mirror a few months after Derek died, she said: “I’m only at the beginning of grief really. I’m just three months in so there are many ups and downs to come.”
She’s made it her mission to start doing things that had been on hold for years while caring for Derek. “At the moment it’s about focusing on the youngsters… and focusing on doing things like this when I can that I haven’t been able to do,” she said.
Right now, staying busy is her main coping mechanism. “I’m sure there will be a moment where I have to stop and deal with it,” she admitted. But she’s also clear on the importance of reaching out for help when needed. “Help is there. You just have to ask for it. And sometimes you have to ask for it time and time again.”
It’s a raw and powerful reminder from Kate that even those who seem the strongest carry pain behind closed doors – and that healing, for now, is about taking one small step at a time.
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