'hanging in the balance'
Good Morning Britain’s Kate Garraway says she faces a ‘tough dilemma’ over husband Derek Draper’s care
KATE Garraway has admitted she faces a tough dilemma when it comes to caring for her husband Derek Draper.
The 54-year-old has become a carer for her husband after he left hospital last year with limited mobility after his body was ravaged by Covid.
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She once again opened up about the difficult journey as she chatted to guest Sharon Churchil on today’s Good Morning Britain, who revealed she was prepared to get into debt by paying for private medical care because NHS waiting lists are too long.
Understanding the woman’s predicament completely, Kate said: "Not only are you in excruciating pain, but I would imagine very fearful over how this was going to progress.
"Because it is an operation that if you didn't have, it could have led to more damage you might well have felt."
She continued: "You're hanging in the balance. I mean a dilemma of accessing private medicine or continuing to wait for NHS, I don't know what you've been through but it's a conversation I've been having with Derek's treatment."
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The host, who was joined by Ben Shepherd, went on to describe how “tough” it is for people if they don’t have a lot of money.
She explained: "It's such a tough one because if you don't have that money, then what do you do at that point? But then on the other hand, there's no price on being out on pain and in good health, is there?"
The mum-of-two recently admitted she’s worried she'll eventually run out of money to pay for Derek’s round-the-clock care.
Kate secretly flew him to Mexico for a new treatment and will be doing so for a second time, but is aware she might not always be able to avoid it.
"That came at a really low point when I thought, 'oh God, this is not sustainable',” she said.
"The system, I mean I don't believe we can have 24-hour care forever, you know there's a point where money runs out!
"It's a big moment, I was thinking, 'this isn't sustainable' and if there isn't the structure there to help long term, what are we actually going to do? Because we can't give up on him."
Following his time in hospital - during which he was placed into an induced coma - Derek is still very ill after suffering organ failure and clots on his lung.
But Kate is yet to have an agreed diagnosis on precisely what Covid did to Derek’s brain and body because experts still don’t fully understand the long-term effects of the virus.
He may never be able to walk again because the tendons and muscles in his legs have seized up from having been in an induced coma for so long.
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