'CALL 999'
Dr Hilary reveals he told Kate Garraway to call an ambulance for Derek Draper after panicked call about coronavirus
GOOD Morning Britain's Dr Hilary Jones has spoken of the moment he told Kate Garraway to call an ambulance for her sick husband Derek Draper.
Dr Hilary, who works alongside Kate on the ITV breakfast show, urged Kate to call 999 after speaking to her about Derek's deteriorating condition.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
5
5
After being diagnosed with coronavirus, Derek has spent almost 10 weeks in hospital, most of it in a coma.
Recalling the moment, he told GMB viewers today: "He had been deteriorating, his symptoms weren't typical of any means and Kate was worried, so of course she called a colleague at work.
"I'm very very happy to help in those situations, as I have in the past with other people. That's what I do.
"I spoke to Kate and she was concerned about whether she should call an ambulance.
"I said, 'Is it possible to speak to Derek?' I spoke to Derek and I was quite concerned, just the way he was speaking and his breathlessness."
5
Dr Hilary asked Derek to do "a very simple test", which he stressed is not a "diagnostic test for Covid".
He asked Kate's husband to see how long he could hold his breath for.
"It was less than 10 seconds," Hilary recalled. "I said to Kate, 'Look, this is time to call an ambulance. He is very breathless, significantly breathless'."
Derek was then admitted to hospital in London and has remained in intensive care for the past 10 weeks.
5
Earlier today, Kate appeared on Good Morning Britain and publicly spoke about her husband for the first time.
The star, who has two children with Derek, struggled to hold back tears as she recalled the moment he was put into an induced coma on April 5.
Kate, 53, said: "He couldn't really speak to me because of the mask, but he was begging me, 'I feel like I'm suffocating, please let them put me in a coma', because there was a debate about that.
"But I said 'no we've got to wait' because if his lungs can handle it that's better. Then on the Sunday morning they rang me up and said we're going to be him in a coma, and he just said to me, 'I love you, I have to leave you', and I said 'It's only for three or four days and you're going to fine this is good and good'.
5
"He said to me, 'You have saved my life, I don't just mean now I mean marrying me and the children,' and I said I love you I love you and then he was gone and that was it."
Kate confirmed that Derek, 52, is now free from Covid-19 but admitted the damage it has caused to his body is significant.
MOST READ IN TV & SHOWBIZ
She added: "The fight of the virus has been won.
"But it's wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don't know if he can recover from that.
"It is an absolute miracle that he's still here. I wish for another one, if I could just have one more."
Kate Garraway opens up about her husband Derek Draper's coronavirus battle in an emotional interview on Good Morning Britain
Topics