Kate Garraway has issued a heartbreaking plea to anyone with an ill loved one. Drawing on her own experience of grief after losing her husband, Derek Draper, in 2024, the 59-year-old stressed the importance of telling people just how much they mean to you before it is too late.
The presenter's husband died in January 2024 aged 56 after falling critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December weeks before. At the time, he was also battling long-term health complications caused by Covid.
Grateful for Final Moments
Looking back on this difficult period, Kate said she is grateful that she was able to tell him everything she wanted to say before he died.
The Good Morning Britain host recalled being told on many occasions that, although he was not conscious, he may still have been able to hear her and their children speaking to him.
Speaking on the Podcast
Speaking on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast, she said: "I was lucky enough to be there for the last sort of 48 hours until he finally did pass away, which is really special I think.
"And to be able to hold his hand and continue to talk [to him] because, one of the last things that goes and comes back in any state of unconsciousness or coma is hearing so, even the most cynical doctor would say, 'Don't stop talking' because we won't know if he doesn't make it whether he could hear you and if he come back, it's no problem that he was hearing you," she explained.
Final Exchange
"So we were talking the whole time, talking about music and that was lovely but I remember once when I felt like he was really struggling to breathe, and by this point the breathing was assisted, and he just looked up, I said to him, 'You look so beaten up darling'.
"And I said, 'Look, if you can't do this anymore, we know. We'll be fine'. And he did for a second stop breathing and I was like, 'This is okay' and then he took this most enormous breath and I said, 'Okay then we'll keep going'."
Kate also recalled telling Derek that she'll "never give up" on talking to him, adding that she would continue until he was no longer able to hold on.
A Stark Reminder
The devastating moment, she said, was a stark reminder of how important it is to tell your loved ones how much you love them.
"It does remind you that actually, it's a cliché but it's true, that you don't know when the last moment is so never wait to say 'I love you', never wait to say 'Give me a hug', never wait to say 'I'm sorry', never wait to say 'I don't say it enough, but you're amazing at that'. You just have to, but we all forget."
The couple were married for 19 years up until his death and had two children together, Darcey, 20, and Billy, 16. Kate is thought to be in a new relationship with Liam Halligan, a former political commentator who knew Derek.
