In his column for The Sun, Talk TV presenter Piers Morgan addressed the recent and shocking passing of Kate Garraway’s husband, Derek Draper. Draper’s health was something that many were paying attention to as it helped raise awareness to the lasting effect of Covid-19.
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Indeed, since contracting the virus in 2020, Draper had suffered from major side effects. In December 2023, it was announced that Draper had had a major heart attack and was sent to the hospital. Unfortunately, the former political advisor did not make it and since his passing, many are paying tribute.
Piers Morgan on Kate Garraway and Derek Draper’s love
In his column, Morgan reminisces about the time the couple told him they were going to get married. He explains that how he made a joke which ended up on their wedding invitations. The joke was:
Bloody hell - if I’d known the bar was that low, I’d have had a crack myself!
The journalist then continues by explaining his ties to the couple. From how he became friends with Garraway after she interviewed him to his arguments with Draper over politics.
He also talks about how the couple were perfect for each other:
(...) they were the perfect embodiment of the phrase ‘opposites attract.’
In fact, I can honestly say I’ve never met a couple better suited, or who enjoyed a stronger and happier marriage.
How Piers Morgan was there through it all
In his column, Piers Morgan also offers his perspective on the tragedy that struck the couple. Indeed, in 2020 Morgan and Garraway were colleagues on Good Morning Britain when Draper first got seriously ill with Covid.
He explains that when Garraway broke the news to him he had been there to support and advise her. She herself said in an interview:
Very early on, I spoke to Piers, and he just said, 'Right, come on Garraway, you’re a journalist. This is the story of your life. Your focus now is Derek. You’ve got to fight for Derek. You’ve got to get all the information you can.
And that really helped because I thought, 'I’ve got a job,' because we were in free-fall. (...) That forced me into breaking news mode. When something awful happens and you’re on-air, you’ve got to not think about the emotion of it, you’ve got to think about doing your job.
I rode that for weeks and weeks and weeks, thinking, 'What do I need to do? What doctor do I need to speak to? What else can we be doing?
Morgan ends his touching column by praising Garraway’s courage and writes:
And now I’ll very sadly never see him again.
Nor, far more sadly, will Kate, an astonishingly inspiring woman who worked so heroically hard and so utterly selflessly, with such astounding commitment, dedication, and loyalty, to try to get her man through his nightmare.
Read more:
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Sources:
The Sun: My pal Kate Garraway has been heroic in this ‘living hell’ with Derek – my eyes sting with tears reading all our texts
