Derek Draper has passed away - Kate Garraway's husband

[Zingy123]

How sad he wasn't very old.

So sad, after such a long while, hoping he'd overcome some of the problems. It just seems so cruel. Hoping Derek's at peace and Kate and her family find some comfort from those close to her.

RIP Derek - a merciful release after four years of battle.

I hope Kate has a chance to rest now her caring burden has eased.

My friend has attended a clinic for long covid sufferers for two years at the local hospital. It's real, but not advertised

@RenoDakota - Yes, thought the same and then the comment upthread on here. Just don't get it at all. Kate needs to be left in peace to grieve, she must feel exhausted.

@justasking111

I always think the same. My husband got Covid in March 2020 and was put on a ventilator. His kidneys failed in April and the ventilator was turned off. If always surprised me that Derek had so much internal damage but they kept him on a ventilator for so long.

Me and my daughters (19 and 15 at the time) always said, that we wouldn't wanted DH to survive and live like Derek as he's suffered so much. DH would have hated living that way

DH was at Uni with him, Said he was very approachable, not up himself like many of the would-be-politicians, and did a lot of good for students. Of course, that was the late 80s when student welfare was considered to be important for a student leader, as opposed to endless "progressive" virtue signalling .

I worked in a hospice for a number of years the bulk of the grieving is done long before the death of a loved one.

Sorry if this offends anyone

Me too. Similar to the situation with Michael Schumacher; I often wonder if surviving in such circumstances was actually worse.

God rest his soul.

Always one.

I’m so sad to hear this but he’d suffered for such a long time. Like pp, I would not have wanted myself or a close family member to have been kept on a ventilator for so long.

Kate Garraway has been so incredibly brave throughout this nightmare.

Having someone with long COVID in a high profile position has always made me feel it was harder for the powers that be to pretend long COVID wasn't a problem

he didn’t have long covid. His organs were badly damaged due to covid, but he survived it, just, for nearly 4 years, but he wasn’t classed as having long covid as such.

long covid is classified as fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, muscle aches , heart palpitations etc, what Derek had was very different indeed and one of very few people globally in that condition,

I think the stress and overwhelming toll of caring for Derek must have been immense for Kate. What dedication Kate showed to her husband. Feel sure if he wasn’t such a high profile case that he wouldn’t have survived so long. It’s not always the right thing to survive in a case like this. Feel for Kate and kids though. Such a sad sad case.

There are still very large numbers of people getting long term problems / long covid, but very little reporting about it. The Canadian government published a report just before Christmas saying their statistics so far indicate that for Canadian adults who live in private households there is still a roughly 14 point something percent risk per infection, despite vaccinations. With the risk being cumulative and almost 38% of Canadian adults having long term problems after 3 infections. It’s expected to become a major problem for societies, due to the increasing likelihood of problems the more times someone gets infected. Canadian government report: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/75-006-X202300100015

To add, re covid, are people still getting extreme complications now post-vaccine rollout, with anti-vitals etc available? Most of the ‘bad’ cases or deaths I heard about were in 2020.

Sad but not entirely unexpected - but no one could have raised the profile of carers, long covid and most importantly Derek - may they be left alone to grieve

I agree with this, I have grieved far more at the news of an awful terminal illness than at the actual time of death. Watching someone you love fade away in pain as a shadow of their former selves is a hideous thing to go through. Thoughts with Kate, I hope she finds peace in the coming days and months.

It's nearly four years.

Thinking of the family and all they've been through. RIP.

It makes me think about all the other unheard long covid, or covid damaged people out there trying to get on with their own damaged lives and what support they are getting

It's really hard. When my friend was very ill she got a lot of support. The Covid caused massive strokes so she was hospitalised/ in rehab for 23 months - had to learn to swallow etc. But now she is back home 2.5 years later, the care is not great. Her mum was denied a visa to come here to take care of the children, her husband has given up work but the UC doesn't cover their costs, the council still haven't housed them, she's in their living room with no downstairs bathroom or facilities to be washed properly, sporadic physio which will soon stop and no Speech/Language. She's not great emotionally. She can communicate by spelling words but it's very arduous and frustrating and she's often in tears. She can't parent or join in with friends and understands all this very clearly. It's tough on her children, especially her teen, and very difficult for her husband who I can see is struggling with the kids, with the finances, with his wife's mental health. It's heartbreaking. I do sometimes wonder if it would have been easier to lose her and I'm sure she thinks the same. There is grief every which way but this grief is drawn out.

OH had the jab yesterday. He had a funny turn at the supermarket this morning, came home feels really wobbly. Had a bit of lunch now asleep. I've refused the top up jab Thus far.

One of us is right 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

I’m so sorry to hear that 💐

Bless you Derek, you both fought so hard. xxxxx

Very true, I have a friend who is now in their mid 30's and has had Covid 3 times which has left them with damaged lungs. They used to dance and work out with weights and now just going for a walk tires them. I often wonder how people with Long Covid will be affected later in life, I think we are going to see a lot of damage

My heart goes out to Kate and her children. She has been admirable and so strong for so long in such difficult circumstances.

It's one of those occasions where there are two very different feelings - sadness at the loss and also a sense of relief that he is now at peace and pain free. I had this when both my parents died.

Very sorry to hear that. As people have said, she has done sterling work in raising awareness about the most severe effects and I hope his suffering won't be in vain and lessons will be learned that can help people.