Derek Draper has passed away - Kate Garraway's husband

[Zingy123]

How sad he wasn't very old.

I wept at this news, for him for having suffered so much, and for her having to have witnessed it all.

I have been in a similar situation, widowed younger than Kate. A couple of things people have said- one is that she'll get another book out of it. I hope she does. Writing it all down, putting it on paper, is a very therapeutic thing to do and one of the only places you can be truly honest in these situations. So often very ill and disabled people are hidden away, don't appear, that was not the case with Kate and although it pissed many people off, I think trying to hide Derek from the public would have been worse. I hope she does write that book and even makes money from it, because what she has been is to hell and back and it won't make up for it in the slightest.

The second is that people grieve for the loss of someone before they die, this is often said about people with dementia or with huge personality changes, brain damage and so on. I did not find this true for me. Whilst the person was with me, I could hug them, kiss them, talk to them (even if they couldn't always talk back). You do feel you have lost a lot, but not everything. Once they are gone, it's a lonely lonely place to be and being a glamorous TV presenter won't change that one bit, plus she has two teenagers to support mentally as well as physically.

I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy and I'm glad he's at peace now.

Such a tragedy. He’s in a better place now, poor man.

RIP and condolences to her and their 2 children. Also thoughts to all those suffering post covid and their families.according to this government COVID is no longer a problem

I did not know him but he was a good friend of one of my best friends, so I have been following throughout. It’s been so very awful. Apparently the first word he said after he regained consciousness after many months in a coma was ‘pain’. So, so hard. Kate has been astonishing.

No, we have more than one patient in our hospital who has been there since March/April 2020.

No prospect of discharge, ever. So just waiting for them to catch something and die. It is absolutely horrendous for the patients (who are well aware of what is happening) and their families.

Mother of god 🙏

sorry to hear some of these stories

i agree about the rport on bbc i bet they didnt say anything about david soul being a wife beater

My son was on a ventilator for a few weeks and when we discussed it being switched off the doctors were always determined to keep him going. And they got to the point where they were going to give him another 48 hours because of infections nothing was making him better and suddenly he turned a corner. They said there was nothing else they could do it was up to him to fight it. And they didn't mention switching off again. It was me who had been more ready for switching him off while his organs were fit for donation. The doctors were constantly determined to keep him going.
So many others around us were switched off pdq (neuro ICU). A very hard thing to go through for anyone.
I am sorry for what you went through with your husband @justasking111. It's very hard leaving your loved one at the hospital.x

That must be horrendous to experience and also witness, I'm so sorry.

Assume they're still available to some patients but not sure who/ when.

I know someone with a neurological disease who was given these earlier in 2023. They were on a lung ward for something else already.

I've just seen that the Mail Online has a side bar headline titled LIVE DEREK DRAPER DEATH LATEST.

I think that headline is incredibly poor taste. I am so sad for not just his wife but his children. That is a terrible thing to have to endure for any child.

This is what it links to- the URL is just as bad 'live updates death'.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/live/article-12930009/Derek-draper-live-updates-death-kate-garraway-husband.html

You expect better from the Mail? Where have you been?

I hope so. I worked with his mum Carina years ago, in the operating theatre at Chorley Hospital, lovely lady. So hard to loose your child.

to lose

@newnamethanks You expect better from the Mail? Where have you been?

LOL. Yes I know but the media has codes of conduct and rules about grief intrusion - and even by their standards, "live updating" with "latest" news about a death seems shocking.

Incredibly sad, he and his family have been through so much.

Sorry I didn’t mean to quote you, but another poster. V glad you have recovered.

Apologies I didn’t mean to quotes Lourdes1 above, but this post.

Incredibly sad, he and his family have been through so much.

Derek Draper became extremely ill from the acute covid infection, which did so much damage to his body. There is another form of long covid that can develop only after mild infection and has very similar symptoms to the illness ME, particularly the post exertional malaise/symptom exacerbation which is the central feature of the illness. Some of these long covid patients are recovering after a year or so, thankfully, but not a insignificant amount remain disabled 3 years on. Severity of functioning varies amongst patients.

The numbers with this form of long covid and other types (long covid is an umbrella term with different subtypes) are not dropping significantly. For example using US figures the prevalence of long COVID decreased from June 2022 to January 2023 but remained steady through the first half of 2023, according to survey data. ( sorry I don’t have most recent figures at hand). Data increasingly suggests that getting vaccinated reduces the risk of long COVID among children and adults but obviously doesn’t reduce it entirely.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-16/terror-of-long-covid-remains-common-even-as-pandemic-eases-data-show

I met them both at an event before the pandemic, and Derek was such a regular guy. For me the worst thing about COVID was the randomness of it - the impact ranged from nothing to death for similar people. RIP Derek and strength to Kate and the children.

I was upset when I heard the news he was two years younger than me and it bought back how nasty covid was and how so many died and suffered I feel for his family

Found this so sad. He was of no age and obviously suffered so much from Covid. Kate showed the world that love is a doing word with the care she provided and the way she advocated for Derek. Thinking of her and her children.

Yes , it is really sad but it is probably a release to be honest. He has been seriously ill for almost 4 years . He was bedridden and needed 24 hr care. He had every organ failure you could think of and to be honest not much quality of life .

It is very sad; sadly he’d been ill since contracting covid a few years ago & it had a huge impact on all of their lives; it’s desperately sad for anyone who’s gone from being a fit articulate person to one who’s reliant on their partner & carers for everything especially if their brain is still fully functioning,, sadly Derek isn’t an isolated case; there are hundreds of men & women in this position up & down the country; through differing illnesses & each & everyone of them are amazing as are their partners who soldier on silently often extremely exhausted but they get little or no recognition they carry on because they love their partner. Xx

So sad god love him. I remember our dads stroke he had years after it (10) takes a massive toll on you. Kate was amazing really keeping it all going kids work etc and zero sleep.

Hear, hear! I'm glad some else agrees that he had a despicably controversial past as architect of New Labour with dodgy dealings for both Blair and Brown.
I applaud Kate Garraway for her unfailing loyalty, though

Heartbreaking.