Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway has revealed doctors have warned her husband Derek Draper may never fully recover from his battle with coronavirus.
The TV presenter said while Mr Draper – who has been in hospital for almost 10 weeks – is now testing negative for Covid-19, the illness has “wreaked extraordinary damage”.
In an interview with the Sun newspaper, she said a senior doctor at her husband’s intensive care unit called her two weeks ago and warned her he may never wake up.
Garraway said: “I threw up, there and then. People had said to me before that they thought he was going to die, but not that he might stay in this state.
“It’s like a second level of loss. We may lose him even if we don’t lose him. If he doesn’t wake up, then he’s sort of lost anyway… not that I’d love him any less or ever give up.
“I’d fly all over the world to find a cure if there was one, but all this is unprecedented.
“There have been many awful calls over the weeks, but that one was particularly awful because I realised that, even though he’s now Covid-free, the battle has changed.”
Mr Draper, 52, was taken to hospital on March 29 after struggling to breathe. Garraway and the couple’s children, Darcey, 14, and 10-year-old Billy, have been unable to visit him due to the infection risk.
Speaking on Friday’s Good Morning Britain, Garraway described Covid-19 as “an evil, evil virus”, and added: “I don’t want to scare people, Derek’s situation is incredibly rare, the damage he’s sustained is incredibly rare.”