Derek can only sit up for 20 minutes in a wheelchair – but Mexico trip gave him hope for the future, says Kate Garraway

KATE Garraway has revealed her husband Derek Draper can only sit in his wheelchair for 20 minutes as she discussed her concerns about him flying to Mexico for a long Covid clinical trial.

The presenter, 54, admitted the 5,000 mile journey sounds "bonkers" because Derek still requires 24/7 care at home after his body was ravaged by the virus in 2020.

Kate added that the trip has left her friends, including her GMB co-host Ben Shephard, concerned for her "sanity".

Speaking on yesterday's This Morning, she said: "There’s a point where money runs out and I was thinking, ‘This isn’t sustainable, there isn’t the structure there to help long-term, what are we actually going to do?’

"I can’t give up, I can’t give up on him.

"And I’ve been doing a lot of research on the following documentary of wonderful people who’ve contacted me and this particular doctor had dealt with people not as severe as Derek, but in the area.

"[He] offered us the chance to be a kind of test case.

"But [Derek] can sustain sitting in a wheelchair for maybe 20 minutes before he flags, so the thought of going 5,000 miles seemed properly bonkers. 

"I think Ben Shephard was a little bit concerned about my sanity."

Despite her Ben's concern, Kate believes the trip has given Derek, who is due to return to Mexico next month, some "possibility of hope".

She added: "But he [Ben] then got it.

"We sort of worked hard and funnily enough, I sort of thought that at the end of the journey, if nothing else comes from this, the fact that he’s [Derek's] done this.

"I can already see has said something to himself about the possibility of hope."

Kate spoke about Derek's trip to Mexico this week on ITV documentary Caring For Derek, a follow-up to the couple's National Television Award-winning film Finding Derek.