KATE Garraway has revealed that she’s planning her first family holiday after her husband Derek Draper’s death.
On January 3 Derek passed away aged 56 following a four-year battle with Covid.
Derek left behind his wife Kate and their two kids Darcy, 18, and Billy, 14.
She is keen to go away with her children over the summer to spend some quality time together, but knows that it will be “challenging”.
Kate told MailOnline on Sunday: “We will get a family holiday.
“But it’s going to be a bit challenging because it’s a different kind of family set up that we have now.
“But we will do something lovely.”
Kate and Derek started dating in 2004 and tied the knot the following year.
She revealed that she held her husband’s hand as he passed away in a moving Instagram post.
She wrote: “I’m sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away.
“As some of you may know he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.
“Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed.
“I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible.
“Sending so much love and thanks to all of you who have so generously given our family so much support.
“Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life.”
Derek fell ill in 2020 when he contracted the virus and suffered a number of health problems.
The former political lobbyist became the nation’s longest Covid patient after spending 13 months in hospital.
He was in and out of hospital, and had been diagnosed with “life-threatening” sepsis and a kidney infection.
Earlier this month Kate revealed that she tried to release funds from Derek’s pension to pay for his huge medical bills.
She previously told The Sun about the huge medical fees she faced for the care for her late husband as she confessed “there’s no special treatment because I’m on TV”.
On Thursday’s Good Morning Britain, Kate and co-host Ed Balls, 57, were discussing the billions of pounds going unclaimed from forgotten pensions.
Kate admitted to the show guests: “It’s only when a crisis hits you suddenly think hmm.
“I have experience of this, Derek fell very ill in March 2020.
“I was aware that he had some pensions, I had a small one that I knew.
“I tried to find out if I could do that early release to try to pay for his bills.”
She added: “I’ve sent in things … and tried to contact HMRC and I’ve never heard. So it’s not an easy thing to track things down.”
Derek's four-year health struggles
- March 30, 2020: Derek is rushed unresponsive to hospital with Covid.
- April 24: He is put into an induced coma.
- June 5: Kat reveals Derek is Covid-free but his body suffered damage.
- July 5: He awakens from a deep coma but remains “minimally conscious”.
- September 6: Kate then reveals Derek lost eight stone and cannot speak.
- September 29: Derek becomes the longest-suffering Covid patient after spending 184 days in hospital.
- October 30: Wakes from coma and speaks for the first time in seven months.
- October 31: He is finally taken off ventilator after 214 days in hospital.
- January 7, 2021: Kate reveals kids got to visit Derek at Christmas – the first time since he was hospitalised.
- April 9: Derek returns home after over a year but needs full-time care.
- May 4: He is able to converse more.
- December 22: Pictured in public for the first time at a panto.
- February 21, 2022: Kate says they secretly flew to Mexico for a medical trail.
- July 6: Derek is rushed back to hospital.
- August 1: He is in intensive care with “life-threatening” sepsis.
- June 28, 2023: He sees wife Kate made MBE.
- October 8: Kate reveals Derek is “not doing great” after an infection.
- November 23: In hospital for treatment to help with movement.
- December 11: Taken ill and suffers heart attack.
