Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story finally hit screens on Tuesday night, leaving viewers in floods of tears as it depicted the final days of the polItical lobbyist’s life.
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 despite Kate sharing that his health had improved in the weeks before his death, following a cardiac arrest he died in January.
While the programme was praised by viewers for shining a light on the thousands of unpaid carers in the UK, it also offered insight into Kate’s plight during Derek’s struggles, including the huge debts she’s accrued funding his care.
Here are the 10 standout moments from Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story…
In emotional scenes, Derek called himself ‘pathetic’ as he struggled to lift himself out of his wheelchair while undergoing physical therapy
Derek become visibly emotional and burst into tears as he attempted to stand up during physio with the help of a carer
In emotional scenes, Derek called himself ‘pathetic’ as he struggled to lift himself out of his wheelchair while undergoing physical therapy.
After contracting Covid, the psychotherapist was left predominantly bed-bound, and relied on a wheelchair to leave the house.
Derek become visibly emotional and burst into tears as he attempted to stand up during physio with the help of a carer.
Kate attempted to console him, insisting ‘it’s not pathetic, you’re absolutely trying’ and the strain on her face was also clear to see.
While watching the distressing footage, viewers found it ‘very hard’ to watch while he was having the physical therapy.
Kate reveals she can’t afford to use the heating due to money constraints
In the documentary, Kate revealed that the financial strains of her husband Derek’s care bills meant she couldn’t afford to have the heating on last October
In the documentary, Kate revealed that the financial strains of her husband Derek’s care bills meant she couldn’t afford to have the heating on last October.
In an astonishing confession, she said that she was unable to warm up the family home in north London by the end of the psychologist’s fatal four year battle with Covid.
Kate said: ‘It’s the brutal reality that Derek’s salary is over and his expenses are up.
‘We haven’t got the heating on anywhere but in his room. Everything is more expensive. I don’t know what to do.’
Since emerging from a Covid induced coma in 2020, Derek was left wheelchair-bound and reliant on Kate and his carer, Jake, while he underwent stringent physiotherapy classes to try to regain strength in his body.
Kate reveals she’s in thousands of pounds of debt funding Derek’s care
One of the documentary’s most shocking revelations came when Kate revealed the huge debts she’s accrued funding Derek’s care, despite her well-paid salary at ITV
One of the documentary’s most shocking revelations came when Kate revealed the huge debts she’s accrued funding Derek’s care, despite her well-paid salary at ITV.
By the time he passed away, she had racked up £800,000 of debt as Derek needed round-the-clock care which cost a minimum of £576,000 over four years.
‘Derek’s care costs more than my salary at ITV,’ Kate revealed in the documentary, which was filmed last autumn.
‘His basic need, not including any therapy, is nearly £4,000 a week. How can I afford that? How can anybody afford £16,000 a month?
‘And that’s before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay for household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids. So we are at crunch point.’
Kate added: ‘I am in debt, I can’t earn enough money to cover my debt because I am managing Derek’s care. I have an incredible job that I love and it’s well paid. But it’s not enough.
If this is what it’s like for me, what on earth is it like for everybody else?’
Add to this the £700,000 debt incurred by Derek’s psychotherapy company – which continued to rack up running costs despite generating no revenue when he fell ill – and the past four years have saddled the family with as much as £1.5million debt.
That does not include the vast cost of rehabilitative therapies, including treatment at a pioneering clinic in Mexico in December, which depleted their savings to virtually nil.
Derek speaks on camera for the first time
As the documentary began, viewers saw Derek speak on camera for the first time since his battle with the virus, which attacked every organ in his body
When asked why he wanted to take part in the film, he said: ‘I want to be heard’
As the documentary began, viewers saw Derek speak on camera for the first time since his battle with the virus, which attacked every organ in his body.
When asked why he wanted to take part in the film, he said: ‘I want to be heard.’
The documentary also showed Derek saying: ‘My name’s Derek Draper, I want you to hear my story.’
Kate goes on to ask Derek: ‘You’ve written Covid changed everything. Do you mean for you?’ to which he replies: ‘Yes.’
He is shown lying in bed and writing in his notepad during a chat with Kate.
Bed-bound Derek reflects on his fight for social equality
Footage of Derek Draper in his younger years speaking about his political beliefs was also shown in the documentary
A clip was shown of a 21-year-old Derek at a protest, where he was telling cameras that the police should be trusted to do their job
Footage of Derek Draper in his younger years speaking about his political beliefs was also shown in the documentary.
A clip was shown of a 21-year-old Derek at a protest, where he was telling cameras that the police should be trusted to do their job.
‘It’s all been caused by a few people who are hanging around here and don’t realise that the police are much stronger than we can ever be and that the police will clear this road,’ he said.
It then flashed forward to Derek in October 2023, where he was asked: ‘Did you enjoy being in politics?’ ‘Yes,’ he answered.
Another clip of Derek in his younger years showed him saying: ‘The hard political thinking behind this project is, to get Labour elected.’
He was then seen leaving 10 Downing Street, before another clip showed him backing Gordon Brown.
‘People are so willing to beat Gordon Brown over the head at the moment, that they’re not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when he’s doing something quite ordinary and decent,’ Derek said.
In another catch up to 2023, Derek was asked while in bed what he believed in during his campaigning days. He said: ‘Equality. Social justice.’
‘Have these things always meant a lot to you,’ he was asked, before he replied: ‘Yes.’
Kate’s friend reveals she was hospitalised with heart pains
While Derek’s ongoing health battles no doubt caused huge stress for Kate, the documentary shared that she was also hospitalised with heart pains
The broadcasters’s friend has recalled how she was taken to hospital after suffering heart pains amid the stress
While Derek’s ongoing health battles no doubt caused huge stress for Kate, the documentary shared that she was also hospitalised with heart pains.
The broadcasters’s friend has recalled how she was taken to hospital after suffering heart pains amid the stress.
She said: ‘Kate was on the way here and she had pains in her chest and threw up on herself in her car.
‘I had a phone call and they go, ‘Oh, Kate’s in hospital,’ so naturally your mind goes, ‘Oh, Kate’s in hospital with Derek.’
‘No, no, no Kate’s in hospital. Oh so what’s gone wrong here. That was a really horrible moment.
‘Forget where she wants to be and what she wants to keep on going and doing because work pays bills at the end of the day, especially for the costs that she has to cover.
‘All of that just didn’t matter in that moment. It was like, ‘Kate, you’re not ok’.’
Dereks recalls the moment he first met his wife Kate
Derek Draper recalled the moment he first met his wife Kate Garraway as he reminisced on his emotional wedding speech in the documentary
Kate and Derek tied the knot in 2005 after just one year of dating, and asked in the documentary what Derek thought when he first saw Kate, he joked: ‘She’s fit’
Sharing a clip from their big day in Camden, the pair shared Derek’s wedding speech as he declared: ‘I have never felt more alive than I do in Kate’s presence’
He continued: ‘Spending my limited time on this planet in the company of such a woman seemed like a damn fine idea within just a few weeks of meeting her. And thank the lord she felt the same way’
Kate and Derek tied the knot in 2005 after just one year of dating, and asked in the documentary what Derek thought when he first saw Kate, he joked: ‘She’s fit’.
He then added that he thought she was ‘caring, lovely’ and knew he wanted to marry her.
As Kate laughed at his response, she added: ‘Oooh that’s nice. I love you so much’.
Sharing a clip from their big day in Camden, the pair shared Derek’s wedding speech as he declared: ‘I have never felt more alive than I do in Kate’s presence.
‘Spending my limited time on this planet in the company of such a woman seemed like a damn fine idea within just a few weeks of meeting her. And thank the lord she felt the same way.’
He added: ‘Thank you for making me the happiest, safest, proudest man in the world.’
In the final scene of the documentary Derek was asked what has been the most important thing to him in the last three years since his battle with Covid and he simply replied: ‘Family.’
Kate and Derek were introduced by ex-GMTV political editor and former MP Gloria De Piero, in 2004 and went out for drinks on a blind date at London hotel Claridge’s.
Kate previously told The Times: ‘Derek arrived thinking it was a date and that I was being incredibly cool by ignoring him.’
She did however then agree to a date with the former political advisor and psychotherapist. Their loved blossomed and the pair were married the following year, tying the knot in Camden, North London, in September 2005.
Kate says Derek’s ‘brain is now his enemy’
As Kate reflected on her husband’s difficult condition , she made the heartbreaking admission that it felt as though ‘his brain is now his enemy’ as she attempted to articulate his condition
Commenting on the sharp contrast from Derek pre-Covid to the tragic effects on his entire body post-Covid, she explained: ‘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’
Kate invited politician Liz Kendall, and Derek’s former colleague, over for coffee with her and Derek, however after a short time he had to go and rest
Delighted to see him, Liz got up to hug Derek – who appeared happy to see her as he smiles
As Kate reflected on her husband’s difficult condition in Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story, she made the heartbreaking admission that it felt as though ‘his brain is now his enemy’ as she attempted to articulate his condition.
The mother-of-two also made sure to shed light on the crippling care system in the UK as she invited politician Liz Kendall, and Derek’s former colleague, over for coffee with her and Derek.
Delighted to see him, Liz got up to hug Derek – who appeared happy to see her as he muttered that he remembered her from his work as a political lobbyist.
However, after a short conversation about failing social care, Kate noticed Derek has drifted and decided he needed to rest.
Commenting on the sharp contrast from Derek pre-Covid to the tragic effects on his entire body post-Covid, she explained: ‘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.’
Derek walks again just nine days before his death
Given the extent of Derek’s health struggles, viewers were stunned to learn that just nine days before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest, he’d finally managed to walk.
A home video taken nine days before the cardiac arrest showed Derek slowly but triumphantly lifting himself up out of his wheelchair and walking out the door of a hospital room.
Wearing an oversized maroon jumper, Mr Draper was lightly aided by his carer Jake and a walking frame – a far cry from the man viewers saw earlier in the programme barely able to swallow a spoonful of Weetabix.
Since emerging from a Covid-19-induced coma in 2020, Mr Draper was left wheelchair-bound and underwent stringent physiotherapy classes to try to regain strength in his body.
Kate describes the moment Derek passed away
Kate bravely disclosed what she told Derek when he was in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest in December 2023, which led to his passing
At the very end of the emotional documentary, Kate said that she told Derek she and their children Darcey 17 and Billy, 14, ‘will be fine if you can’t fight it anymore’
As the documentary came to a close, viewers learned that Derek had passed away in hospital on January 3 after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Kate bravely disclosed what she told Derek when he was in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest in December 2023, which led to his passing.
Derek suffered one of the worst affected case of Covid in the UK, with the virus attacking every organ in his body.
At the very end of the emotional documentary, Kate said that she told Derek she and their children Darcey 17 and Billy, 14, ‘will be fine if you can’t fight it anymore’.
With doctors urging ‘there is no way back’ from the cardiac arrest, Kate revealed she told Derek: ‘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.’
Asked whether she had anY regrets, Kate said: ‘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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