Kate Garraway issues emotional update on husband Derek Draper’s condition

Kate Garraway has shared an update on her husband Derek Draper's fight for life with Good Morning Britain viewers.

The 53-year-old presenter has been open with the tough battle her husband has faced since entering intensive care during March, after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

Speaking on GMB today, Kate said that Derek, 52, was now receiving therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE).

However, Kate pointed out that it was frustrating as she had offered to donate blood to him months ago.

Speaking to GMB's Dr Amir Khan, she probed him on her attempt to help her husband earlier this year.

"I was looking for anything that I was able to do," she explained, saying that she had wanted to donate blood after she had also had the virus and had potentially developed antibodies. "But they said we are months away from being confident enough to clean your blood."

Dr Amir said that he liked the idea, which he said had been around for a "long, long time".

"The government are asking people who have been found positive to donate their plasma," he said.

But Kate pointed out: "The doctors that I was speaking to in America were doing it regularly [for months]... why were we slow to do this?"

Dr Amir confirmed that it wasn't due to a lack of knowledge that they hadn't done so, but more due to a lack of technology and resources.

"I agree with you, it should have been used earlier," he said.

Kate also revealed that her children had visited their grandparents for the first time since the pandemic.

Desperate to ensure that their children Darcey, 14, and Billy, 11, begin to return to normality, Kate prepared to send them to visit their grandparents - but was incredibly cautious about them unwittingly giving the virus to the elderly couple.

Speaking about the measures she went through to ensure that didn't happen, she said on Good Morning: "My children have gone for the first time to stay away from home - they've gone to stay with Derek's mum and dad.

"Derek's mum and dad have been shielding since the beginning of March because they both feel vulnerable. So this was a very big deal for them to have the children to stay, and also very important because they haven't seen their grandchildren in a while.

"Very important for Billie and Darcey because they haven't seen their grandparents as well.

"So one of the thing we did was to plan over several weeks what to do. So I thought, right, we have to be very clear - we have to isolate in the days before they leave to travel. I actually washed and packed Billy and Darcey's clothes to seal them for quite a few days just in case there was anything problematic there."

Kate explained that they didn't travel up to the house with her because the grandparents hadn't even been in contact with Derek's sister so she didn't want to be an extra person for them to contact.

She continued: "It was thanks to Jeremy Kyle that they travelled up - big thanks to him. Because he said, 'Listen, my driver has been isolating and has been keeping the car very clean so I'll take the children up.'

"Very, very kind of him, thank you very much Jeremy."

The news about Derek's condition comes days after Kate admitted she was "desperate for a step forward" as Derek recovers from a medically-induced coma.

After visiting Derek last Monday, Kate admitted that it had been a "tough visit" with doctors telling her that her husband had done well not to have relapsed in the past few days.

The visit was "extra emotional" because it was their son Billy's birthday, and she had been thinking about when Billy was born and that Derek was present, but he was unable to be there now.

Kate told GMB viewers last week: "It was quite a tough visit yesterday, he has had a tough couple of weeks, and it's frustrating.

"It's Billy's actual birthday today so I think I was extra emotional, because you think about the day he was born and Derek's involvement and how much Derek would have liked to have been present, so it was very emotional.

"But what the doctor said to me is, 'Sometimes, Kate, a day where nothing has gone backwards and nothing has gone wrong is a positive one'.

"So it's a stable day, but I am desperate for a step forward.

"But it's always lovely to see him so it's wonderful to have the chance to do that."

While Derek has beaten Covid-19, he has been left with clots in his lungs, holes in his heart and and is now diabetic.

Kate has been warned by doctors that Derek might never recover from the damage done to his body.