Kate Garraway was hospitalised with ‘excruciating’ chest pains due to stress amid husband Derek Draper’s Covid battle: ‘I thought I was having a heart attack’
Kate Garraway has revealed she was hospitalised with ‘excruciating’ chest pains due to stress amid her husband Derek Draper’s coronavirus battle.
The presenter, 56, was getting ready to present Good Morning Britain last November but when her alarm went off at 2am she couldn’t move to turn it off.
In her new book, The Strength Of Love, she describes how she then felt a ‘searing pain’ in her chest and was taken to A&E for tests.
Derek, also 56, was diagnosed with coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and left in a life-threatening condition.
Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator and he was in hospital for 13 months.
Health woes: Kate Garraway has revealed she was hospitalised with ‘excruciating’ chest pains due to stress amid her husband Derek Draper’s coronavirus battle
Tough: Derek was diagnosed with coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and left in a life-threatening condition
He has been seriously ill since 2020 and has been in and out of hospital ever since, relying on the use of a wheelchair.
She said in The Sun of her health scare: ‘There was a searing pain in my chest — as though someone had punched their fist through my breastbone, snatched hold of my heart and squeezed.
‘The pain was sharp and excruciating. Then I realised that it wasn’t a sudden onset of pain. It had been there all the time. My temporary paralysis had distracted me.
‘Then came the thought, ‘Oh God, was I having a heart attack?’. But why was my body reacting like this?
‘Could I be so desperate to help Derek that I’d started having sympathy pains?’
She then threw up on the way to work and was taken to A&E when she arrived at the studios.
They did tests and a cardiologist ruled out that she was having a heart attack before the doctor let her go home.
She also told how she burst into tears when the doctor recognised her and said she was an inspiration, telling the man: ‘I’m not doing any good for anybody.’
Poorly: Derek, has struggled to make a full recovery after falling ill with COVID-19 in March 2020, becoming the longest surviving hospital patient with the virus in the UK
Ouch: The presenter, 56, was getting ready to present Good Morning Britain last November but when her alarm went off at 2am she couldn’t move to turn it off
Her scare was a one-off issue, but doctors are now keeping an eye on it as it might have been stress-related angina.
It comes after last week Kate shared an update on her husband Derek’s progress as she attended the National Television Awards on Tuesday evening.
The star discussed how Derek and their family were getting on as she told reporters on the red carpet: ‘We keep ploughing on.’
Kate said: ‘He’s doing alright. There’s been no dramatic progress I’m afraid but we keep ploughing on.
‘Derek and the kids are all watching at home but we’ve got it on record too to watch together. I’m just glad I didn’t fall over.’
The following day, Kate was seen stepping out at her at her Smooth radio show wearing a camouflage print khaki dress.
At the start of this month Kate revealed her husband’s airport ordeal in which he was stuck between passport gates for an hour.
Kate and her Good Morning Britain co-host Richard Madeley, 67, were speaking to Manchester bombing survivor Martin Hibbert on the degrading treatment of disabled people on Wednesday’s show, when Kate recalled a shocking moment regarding her own husband.
Kate told of the shock moment her Covid-stricken husband became trapped between the automatic ePassport gates after being unable to free himself, telling the show that he was essentially ‘stuck in no man’s land’.
Sharing the experience after she and Derek returned to the country after receiving treatment abroad, she said: ‘You know when you go through the passport lines and before that, you couldn’t get a wheelchair through.
‘They put one in at vast expense. When they came to do it with Derek – and disability has a wide range – and he hasn’t got the cognition you’ve [Martin] got or the strength you’ve got in your upper body – we realised we couldn’t get him into the country.’
She went on to say that Derek was unable to physically free himself from between the automated self-service barriers and was stuck for around an hour.
Kate continued: ‘He went forward, the door locked, but the disabled person had to free it. Because you’re not allowed, because of the border, to do it yourself, so he was stuck in no man’s land, literally between two borders, for an hour or so.’
It comes after Kate recalled last month Sir Elton John’s special tribute to her husband Derek as she detailed how the legendary musician showed his support.
Derek, has struggled to make a full recovery after falling ill with COVID-19 in March 2020, becoming the longest surviving hospital patient with the virus in the UK.
In April the pair managed to venture from their North London home to watch Elton on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour at the O2 Arena, with their children Darcey, 17, and Billy, 13, after he had invited them.
Speaking to The One Show hosts Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas, Kate explained how the trip came about.
‘Sir Elton John happened to have a friend who was in a coma in L.A. at the time when Derek first got sick with COVID, and through weird connections we ended up speaking,’ she said.
Kate continued: ‘He was asking what I was doing doing for Derek and we were sharing information, and he’s kept in touch ever since.
‘When his tour resumed he said, “wouldn’t it be amazing if you could come see it?” I never thought it was possible.
‘Suddenly, there were only a few dates left before his extraordinary goodbye at Glastonbury. I thought shall we just try.
‘I had no idea whether we could do it even on the day. We got in there, Derek was amazing, we did take him out for a bit as it was a bit overwhelming.
Journey: Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator and he was in hospital for 13 months (Kate and family pictured getting her OBE in June)
‘But we went back in and it happened to be just at the moment Sir Elton John was thanking everyone in the tour and all these incredible people.
‘He said “most of all, I can’t believe Derek Draper is here” and obviously there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, It was wonderful. Having that moment to feel like you’re connected is extraordinary.’
The singer, 76, gave them a special shoutout, dedicating his hit Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me to them.
Kate said that the trip was a big ordeal for the couple – particularly for former political lobbyist Derek, who has faced devastating health complications.
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