'IT'S WONDERFUL'
Kate Garraway likens Derek’s return home to bringing back a newborn for the first time as she’s left ‘overwhelmed’
KATE Garraway likened husband Derek's return home to bringing back a newborn for the first time.
Hosting Good Morning Britain today alongside Susanna Reid, Kate revealed she was "overwhelmed and over the moon" to have Derek home after his year-long hospital stay.
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She said: "I want to thank you so much for your incredible messages. Derek came home Wednesday evening. We sort of feel over the moon and overwhelmed in equal measure. It is quite an overwhelming responsibility.
"Do you remember the day you bring home your firstborn, and you've been planning for nine months, you get home and think 'what the heck do we do now?' Completely overwhelming and wonderful."
Derek was left in a coma for months after being ravaged by coronavirus complications that caused his organs to shut down.
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It is hoped the return home and the regular stimulation of his family will help aid Derek's recovery.
Kate continued: "And they [kids] have been absolutely loving it and been really helpful. It's been great actually. I've noticed a bit of deferring like 'shall we check in with dad'.
"We've got an alarm, system and some support - people there to help because I'm certainly not a doctor. When it goes off you get that surge of rush."
The Sun exclusively revealed Derek is sleeping in a hospital bed in the lounge Kate "spent thousands" converting in their home.
The 53-year-old TV presenter has been busy preparing to welcome him back by making space for his wheelchair.
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Speaking about Derek reuniting with their children after a year in intensive care on Friday's GMB, Kate said: “They’ve both just not stopped cuddling him and actually it was a very late night… we were all lying in a bed, I came back downstairs to sleep in the same room as Derek.
"Bill said, and Darcey agreed, they both just said, ‘Mum, he is home, let’s just take that in, he’s home’ and I said, ‘Yes, he is, that’s great’. They’re just delighted he’s home. I’m trying to balance the emotions of the next stage.
"We’ve got to stay positive and have hope. We’ll get there. He’s here!”
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Doctors said that Derek had been “universally affected” — meaning his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas had all been hit by Covid.
At his worst, hospital staff feared Derek may remain in a semi-vegetative state forever.
The Sun revealed that Kate — who has bravely continued working throughout much of her husband’s illness — has spent thousands of pounds adapting their home for his return.
She also faces medical bills running into the tens of thousands as Derek fights to get back to full fitness.
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Kate spent thousands adapting their home where Derek is sleeping downstairs in a hospital bed, and will use a makeshift wet room for showering.
Last month in Kate's moving ITV documentary, Finding Derek, she showed the work in progress.
She told us: "We’re in the kitchen, as you can see we’ve got sofas in our kitchen and our front room is now his bedroom.
"I thought I’d got it really ready and then the experts arrived and said, ‘Right we’ve got to get all this out’ because obviously you know chairs and sofas and everything have to go because there’s a lot of kit, there’s a huge amount of kit that comes with him.
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"So, I think the next two and three days I’ll be putting lots of things in plastic boxes. But it’s all fantastic.”
Kate admitted she hasn't slept since his return 48 hours ago as they get used to life as a family-of-four again.
"He can’t really move," said Kate.
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"We do need a lot of help. And it’s not just help with looking after him, because it is 24-hour care, and I haven’t really slept as you can probably tell.
"I will ease off, I’m just very aware at the moment and it’s a whole new team.
"So he’s probably got a little bit used to the people in hospital and so it’s a new team now that are working with him and helping him to come through.
“It’s going to take a lot of adjustment. But on top of the care side, there’s the very specialised therapeutic intervention, which will have to come in to make sure that this isn’t just about getting him with us for us, it’s hoping that actually this will prompt… some recovery.
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"He’s definitely sort of plateaued at this level. Obviously we’re very grateful for this level but want to see if we can move forward, if we can get him speaking more, able to move more and see what we can draw out.
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"It’s going to be very slow and a bit of wait and see. The physiotherapy, the occupational therapy, neuropsychology as well and speech and language therapy all working on a programme.
"What they’ve said is purpose is what they hope will come in, so when they see the children playing, will it perhaps prompt him more to say, ‘What you building with your Lego, Bill?’ or ‘What are you doing Darcey?’ rather than a forced situation in a vacuum in a room with people in PPE.”
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