Derek Draper set to fly across the world as wife Kate Garraway looks at pioneering ways to save Chorley-born husband

The 55-year-old Chorley-born former political adviser fell seriously ill with Covid in March 2020, and despite now being free of the virus, he suffered long-lasting damage to his organs and requires daily care.

In 2021 and 2022, Derek travelled to Mexico to receive pioneering treatment, and Kate has revealed they plan to head back to Mexico again for Derek to receive another round of trial treatment with the couple clinging on to “the good days”.

"We haven’t jumped any queues”

Speaking to The Sun, Kate, also 55, tried to dispell beliefs her husband gets special treatment from the NHS because she is on TV.

She said: “Perhaps there is the assumption that because I’m on the telly, and because people have heard so much of Derek’s story — and he has touched so many hearts — that we’ve had special treatment from the NHS or bypassed waiting lists.

“We haven’t jumped any queues, which is just as it should be. There are only so many resources, and we are still waiting on referrals from almost three years ago.”

"It is unbearable”

She said: “There are some days where he literally cannot do anything and it’s like the computer is switched off.

“He cannot move, and he’s in so much pain as we are manipulating him, trying to get him more mobile so that he doesn’t regress.

“I always ask him if he wants to stop, and he grunts ‘no, no’. It is unbearable, and it makes me emotional even talking about it.

“But it also makes me fall in love with him all over again because of that spirit, that determination to keep going.

“Derek is trapped, but he fights on.”

Will there be another documentary?

Kate Garraway has created two documentaries detailing her family’s life as Derek battles the long-term effects of Covid, with both programmes winning a National Television Award in the authored documentary category.

She now wants to make a third documentary exposing the “broken” care system.

She said: “We are all going to end up either caring for someone we love, or needing to be cared for. It is something no-one really understands until they’re in it.

“The extraordinary nature of carers, they are the absolute bedrock of our health service. But the challenges of the system we have now need addressing. Everyone I speak to says the system is broken, it doesn’t work.

“Simply, we are in a mess. There are huge backlogs, there’s mass underfunding and there is also an under-appreciation of the skill of the carer.

“But I don’t just want to be angry about it, I want to affect change. Until now, I wasn’t ready. My focus had to be on Derek and the children.

“But now I am ready to do another documentary with ITV.”

Background

Born in Chorley, Lancashire, Draper was educated at Southlands High School until 1984. He later attended Runshaw College in Leyland and the University of Manchester.

He has become the longest-suffering coronavirus patient in the UK.