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Kate Garraway reveals Derek Draper was almost left paralysed by rare brain inflammation
KATE Garraway has revealed her sick husband Derek Draper was almost left paralysed by a rare brain inflammation.
The TV presenter, 53, explained in her new book The Power of Hope that there were “fluffy white clouds floating in the top part of his head” after doctors found a small bleed on the brain.
Kate Garraway has told of Derek’s struggles in her new book The Power of Hope[/caption]
Kate wrote in her book: “This, they told me, was a unique historical event, a one-off splurge of inflammation, and the fact that it showed up in some form on the earlier CT scans from back in April meant it happened right at the start when Derek was first on ECMO [life support].”
Doctors warned Kate that the infection reached spinal cord or brain stem his ability to move would have been affected.
His condition was so rare that medics hadn’t seen the inflamation caused by Covid in the UK. Others in Europe had reported similiar cases.
Last month, Derek returned home after a year in hospital fighting off the disease and the damage it had wreaked on his body.
Derek was in hospital for a year[/caption]
But Kate said this week Derek can still barely talk nearly a month after being back with her and their two children Darcey and Billy.
She has praised her children as her “heroes” for adapting so well as their dad continues to recover.
Derek was in intensive care for a year after falling ill with coronavirus[/caption]
Speaking on Radio 2 to Zoe Ball this week she said: “He isn’t really able to speak at the moment so he can’t tell them off.
“I have to be the bad guy! They are my heroes.
Kate with her husband before he contracted Covid[/caption]
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“They know instinctively how to talk to him but not ask too much from him.”
She said Derek, also 53, needs “24-hour care” but added: “The hope is he will be able to progress.”
