Daughter's 'brave' words to dad Derek: 'If you can't do this we will be okay'

KATE Garraway has praised her children Darcey and Billy for the way they dealt with the death of their father Derek Draper.

-  Mark Jefferies

The 56-year-old said her husband was given 24 hours to live after a cardiac arrest in December, but survived a month where he could not speak but he could hear his family.

She made an emotional appearance on ITV's Good Morning Britain yesterday to give her first interview since Derek's death and just three days after his funeral.

Appearing from her home with bouquets of flowers and Lego in the background, Kate joked about the "chaos" around her saying: "Let's just own the mess."

Derek fell seriously ill during the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, and spent 13 months in hospital.

He died on January 3 aged 56 after suffering long-lasting symptoms of coronavirus.

Kate explained how Darcey, 17, told her dad: "If you can't do this, we will be OK" with her adding he would "live on" through family in one of her final hospital visits.

"I thought that was extraordinarily brave," Kate shared.

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