Kate Garraway has spoken about the mental toll of caring for her husband, Derek Draper, as her documentary about his care is nominated for a National Television Award.
Former political adviser Derek Draper, 55, became seriously ill with COVID in March 2020, suffering lasting damage to his organs.
He now receives 24-hour care from broadcaster Garraway and a team of health workers.
Garraway, 55, said she was “delighted” her documentary ‘Caring for Derek’ had been nominated, and thanked people for voting.
Kate Garraway with her husband Derek Draper in 2019. Pic: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock
But in an Instagram post to mark World Mental Health Day, she talked about how “hard” providing care to her partner had been.
“The reason we made the documentary was to highlight carers, professional carers, and carers who are doing it for love and the tough challenges that that involves,” she said.
“As much as you don’t begrudge doing it, it’s very hard. You saw me frustrated, depressed, emotional, and I’ve been all of those and more in recent weeks and months.
“That’s the thing about caring; you want it to carry on because you want the person surviving and with you. But there isn’t an end point, and it doesn’t get any easier,” she said in the post.
Garraway and Draper married in 2005 and have two children, Darcey and Billy.
Last year, she won a prize at the National Television Awards for the documentary Finding Derek, about her family’s traumatic experience of the pandemic.
Earlier this year, Garraway said she was finding a “new way to be in love” with her husband as he recovered from long COVID.