Viewers in tears as Derek Draper speaks for the first time on camera about his Covid battle before Kate Garraway describes the moment he passed away in final documentary: ‘I regret every minute I didn’t hold his hand’

Kate Garraway‘s final documentary made for emotional viewing as the presenter chronicled her late husband Derek Draper’s final year of life on Tuesday evening.

The presenter explained that it was Derek’s choice to make the final documentary, Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story, after Kate previously documented her husband’s illness since he was first diagnosed with long Covid back in 2020.

The former political lobbyist is one of the worst affected cases of Covid in the UK, and as the programme began, Derek confessed he wanted to make this final documentary in order to ‘be heard’.

And as the documentary began, viewers saw Derek speak for the first time since his battle with the virus, which attacked every organ in his body.

In heartbreaking scenes viewers saw Derek’s health somewhat improving before he suffered a cardiac arrest last December which led to his passing in January.

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Viewers were left in tears as Derek Draper spoke for the first time on camera about his Covid battle before Kate Garraway described the moment he passed away in final documentary on Tuesday evening

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In heartbreaking scenes viewers saw Derek’s health somewhat improving before he suffered a cardiac arrest last December which led to his passing in January

Describing the moment after his death, Kate admitted she didn’t feel relief.

‘A lot of people say, as a way of comforting me, “It must be a relief in a way that he’s out of pain and for you, your day isn’t consumed by caring for him.”

‘But there isn’t a relief. The one thing Derek has taught me is never to give up fighting for what is right.

‘It isn’t about Derek or me, it’s about having a society where caring isn’t a luxury, we are all going to need it.’

As she shed light on the crippling carer system in the UK, she added: ‘The one thing Derek has taught me is never give up fighting for what is right. It is not about Derek or me it is about having a society where caring is not a luxury.

‘We are all going to need it. And it’s not about someone coming around to come and cut up your food, it is about someone giving you a chance of living and it is belittled as that.’

Asked whether she has any regrets she made the heartbreaking admission: ‘It is every single minute I didn’t spend holding his hand because I had to write an email or take a call to fight the system that should be there to catch you when you fall but feels like, when you’re going through it, is there to catch you out.

‘And that’s what now, I want to be Derek’s legacy, to fight on for that change.’

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Asked whether she has any regrets she made the heartbreaking admission: ‘It is every single minute I didn’t spend holding his hand because I had to write an email or take a call to fight the system that should be there to catch you when you fall’

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The former political lobbyist is one of the worst affected cases of Covid in the UK, and as the programme began, Derek confessed he wanted to make this final documentary in order to ‘be heard’

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Describing the moment after his death, Kate admitted she didn’t feel relief.

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Clips from the couple’s wedding were also shown during the programme, as Derek confessed his first thoughts on seeing Kate were: ‘She’s fit’

Discussing her husband’s cardiac arrest at Christmas, Kate confessed that consultants began saying: ‘There is no way back.’

‘After the cardiac arrest, he was still breathing but could only hear so I said to him, “You know me I’m going to fight this all the way but if you can’t fight anymore and what you need now is peace don’t think about us. We’re going to be fine.”

‘An awful lot of what he had done was wanting to be there as a dad and a husband.

‘We had a different kind of love that we had before but it was love and even though it was chaotic and crazy and an absolute slog – in the midst of all that was family.’

In emotional scenes, Kate showed the true reality of Derek’s struggle as he battled with this new version of himself.

In one painfully emotional clip Derek was seen crying out as he struggled to stand up by himself. 

Aided by mobility therapist Cornel, Derek struggled to lift himself out his chair without support as Kate willed him on.

As he failed to get up he cried : ‘Pathetic’ before falling back down somewhat defeated at his lack of strength.

Viewers were left in floods of tears as they took to Twitter to share their love with Kate and her family.

They wrote: ‘Omg this documentary has got me….’; ‘#DerekStory is absolutely breaking my heart. I think #Kate Garraway is doing a brilliant job in raising awareness about the difficulties that carers face in this country.’

‘Whatever you think of #KateGarraway Watching what she had to go through looking after Derek is. His care was £4000 a week. Seeing his distress having physical therapy is a hard watch. We need better care for our long term sick.’

‘Powerful, compelling, honest, distressing. The beautiful soul that is @kategarraway speaking to every carer, everywhere’; ‘Thank you #KateGarraway for highlighting this unfairness in the social care system’.

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In one painfully emotional clip Derek was seen crying out as he struggled to stand up by himself as he muttered: ‘Pathetic’

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Derek become visibly emotional and burst into tears as he attempted to stand up during physio with the help of a carer

Viewers were left in floods of tears as they took to Twitter to share their love with Kate and her family

Another clip from last November, saw Derek audibly distressed as he was heard crying from the other room as he called out for Kate.

Choosing not to show Derek in these scenes, his cries could only be heard, as Kate explained: ‘He’s been very angry recently. He’s frustrated and very very angry and a bit scared’.

‘He keeps saying “please don’t leave my Jake, I don’t want you to go” I think he has picked up on the fragility of the situation’

As Kate entered the room to comfort him she reassured: ‘It’s alright. You are doing that shaking thing. It’s OK darling no one is cross’.

Joking she added: ‘You sound like a wood pigeon’ as she asked: ‘What is going on in that head of yours?’

Speaking to the camera she asked: ‘What’s that about? It makes it very demanding to care for him. I know him and I love him, so it’s OK, but for a carer it is very difficult when he is asking them “Why are you being mean to me?” when they are trying to help him.’

Speaking about the struggles of social care, Kate raised awareness for carers across the UK as they shared the statistic that 2.5 million family carers at any one time have had to quit work.

‘It could happen to anyone,’ added to Kate as they discussed how so many people like Kate and Derek have their whole life turned upside down.

Referring to Derek’s sharp mind and intelligence, Kate added: ‘I feel like the tragedy for me is that his brain was his best friend, and now it is like his brain is his enemy as the inflammation is everywhere.’

She explained: ‘You know the goal has always been that we wanted less care. We wanted to be less demanding on the system. But he needs just as much care if not more so I have got to see what I can do’.

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Derek’s carer Jake also spoke about his experience caring for Derek. He is taken a break from caring following Derek’s passing

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Referring to Derek’s sharp mind and intelligence, Kate added: ‘I feel like the tragedy for me is that his brain was his best friend, and now it is like his brain is his enemy as the inflammation is everywhere’

Discussing the financial constraint of his illness, she added: ‘It’s the brutal reality that his salary is over and his expenses are up. At the moment we don’t have the heating on anywhere but in his room.’

Kate disclosed that the cost of Derek’s basic care, without any additional therapy on top is nearly £4,000 a week.

She exclaimed: ‘How can I afford that? How can anyone afford £16,000 a month? Why is it that people who get sick, why does coming home feel like falling off a cliff?’

Other carer’s also featured in the documentary as they shared their stories of caring for their loved ones with a range of health issues from dementia, to mental health.

‘You feel like you are in a soup,’ said one as they detailed how it feels trying to care for someone.

While Kate continued to appear on Good Morning Britain, and her Smooth Radio show, the documentary showed the extent to which the presenter pushed herself.

She told the camera: ‘Derek’s care costs more than my salary from ITV and that’s before you add on a mortgage, bills, anything at the kinds.  So we are at a crunch point.

‘I’m not going to pretend that I am poorly paid, I have an incredible job that I love which is well paid. But it is not enough.

‘Time and time again the system keeps telling us Derek isn’t sick enough to qualify for funded care. I have appealed but that still hasn’t been processed two to three years later.’

As Kate was filmed dashing from Good Morning Britain to Smooth Radio, the star even used her time in the taxi to catch up on some medical tasks and apply for some care for Derek.

Once at Smooth Radio the presenter then took a FaceTime from Derek and his carer as she kept up to date with Derek’s recovery on the go and marvelled at his improved muscular strength.

‘

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More tributes poured in following the airing of the documentary

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She told the camera: ‘Derek’s care costs more than my salary from ITV and that’s before you add on a mortgage, bills, anything at the kinds. So we are at a crunch point’

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Referring to Derek’s sharp mind and intelligence, Kate added: ‘I feel like the tragedy for me is that his brain was his best friend, and now it is like his brain is his enemy as the inflammation is everywhere’

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Kate disclosed that the cost of Derek’s basic care, without any additional therapy on top is nearly £4,000 a week

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Even during her radio show, Kate remained on the phone to her husband as she assured him she was still there before playing Don’t Let The Sun Go Down by Elton John for her listeners

Sharing her concern for Kate, her producer Clare admitted: ‘It’s genuinely incredible how much she manages to juggle…As a friend you genuinely wish for her to stop.’

In November Kate suffered a near stress-induced heart attack which led her colleagues to say, ‘Kate you’re not ok’.

The mother-of-two had been on her way to present Smooth Radio when she had pains in her chest and threw up on herself in the car, according to her producer.

She had woken up at 2am with her arm immobile and severe chest pains and vomited on her bedroom floor.

Kate still allowed herself to be driven to the Good Morning Britain studio but was talked down by her doctor from going on air and was rushed to hospital before collapsing in A&E.

Speaking about the incident, Clare explained: ‘It was just that moment of “Christ, the woman who you think could go on forever, can’t”. In that moment nothing mattered, but Kate.’

Even during her radio show, Kate remained on the phone to her husband as she assured him she was still there before playing Don’t Let The Sun Go Down by Elton John for her listeners.

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Derek’s funeral took place at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Primrose Hill in January

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Kate was seen looking through the hundreds of letters of support she has received

Sir Elton had previously invited Draper and Garraway to be guests of honour at his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert at London’s O2 last year.

The 76-year-old singer was in the congregation at Derek’s funeral in January, having offered comfort to Garraway and Draper through his illness.

He sang his ballad Skyline Pigeon – which contains the lyrics ‘fly away, skyline pigeon fly, towards the dreams, you’ve left so very far behind’ – in tribute to Derek.

The documentary also included clips of the pair’s wedding. As Derek reflected on meeting Kate, he admitted that his first thought was: ‘She’s fit’ before adding he also thought she was ‘Caring and lovely.’

Laughing Kate joked: ‘Oooh that’s nice. I love you so much’.