Kate Garraway has shared the remarkable first words her husband Derek Draper said to their son after waking from his coma.
Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway has opened up about the sweet but surprising thing her husband Derek Draper told their son Billy, weeks after welcoming him home.
Former political advisor Derek was first admitted to hospital in March 2020 with Covid-19 symptoms, before being placed into a medically-induced coma. Derek continued to battle the devastating effects the virus had upon his body, with ITV documentary Finding Derek, giving viewers a unique insight into his heart-breaking journey.
Last month, Derek finally returned home to Kate and their children, daughter Darcey (15) and son Billy (11), where he is receiving round-the-clock care.
The presenter has recently spoken about the reassuring way their children are making Derek smile again. Now Kate has shared the first words her husband said after waking from his coma - and they were to Billy.
She made the heart-wrenching revelation when chatting to fellow ITV daytime star Lorraine Kelly, who previously praised Kate's strength.
"One of the nurses, I was racing back a couple of days ago and one of the nurses texted me and said, 'Oh my goodness, I've just heard Derek speak for the first time!”
"And I said, 'Oh my god, what did he say?' and she said 'He said: Bill, you smell of Monster Munch.'"
"It's not quite the profound thing that you hope, like 'I've seen god'!" Kate went on to say, laughing. "And [the nurse] said, 'by the way, he did smell of Monster Munch!'"
"He'd just had two packets of massive Monster Munch, which as you know are very pungent. And he'd come over and he was hugging him,” she explained.
"[Derek] seemed to smile as he said it. She said he was laughing, laughing may be strong but he seemed to be laughing, and Billy was laughing as well, which is a lovely normal moment. And, also, it shows that he can smell!”
And it seems his words to Billy weren’t the only ones Derek’s said recently. Kate also told Lorraine of how she mentioned her 54th birthday to her husband, only for him to reference it later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owwwHzS3R4
"I came in this morning and said, 'right I'm all ready,' and my mum and dad are there and of course the nurses are there, and I said, 'I'm off to Lorraine now, is there anything you want to say to me?' And he said, 'oh, happy birthday',” she revealed.
"It makes me feel a bit emotional, actually, but it's happy tears," she said. "Not to be technical about it, I sound like I'm analysing everything, but that is massive, obviously it's wonderful that he says happy birthday, because that's what I want to hear.
"But also, we're looking for things he can hold. So I told him that the night before, I had to prompt him a little bit...but he held that idea that it was my birthday and then managed to connect it back and repeat it out. And that's wonderful. Those signs like that are just fantastic,” she declared.
