Kate Garraway admits she’s in ‘survival mode’ as she faces up to £800,000 debt for late husband Derek Draper’s care

Kate Garraway has admitted she has racked up £800,000 in debt from her years of caring for her late husband Derek Draper.

As the Good Morning Britain presenter, 56, spoke about the impending debt, she admitted she is always in “survival mode” after his death.

The political lobbyist died in January at the age of 56 after a long battle against Covid-19.

speaking to The timesKate, who owes between £500,000 and £800,000, said: “Derek’s needs were clearly very great but it didn’t justify funded care, so you think: ‘If he doesn’t get it, who gets it?’ “.

‘To be fair to them, no one has contacted me since he passed away to ask me that. They may still do it, but they haven’t done it yet.

‘I haven’t addressed the big picture of the new callings yet, because I’m still in survival mode. It’s supposed to be a system meant to catch you if you fall. But in reality, it feels like it’s trying to get you.

Derek’s final moments will reportedly be shown in a documentary, which will also capture him speaking on camera about his battle for the first time.

He really “wanted to give his opinion” even though his illness left him with very limited speech, according to Sun.

The moving ITV documentary will capture emotional moments alongside his children and his beloved wife Kate as he bravely battled the disease after four years.

A touching moment in the documentary’s trailer shows the former political advisor lying in bed while jotting down in his notebook.

During a heartbreaking moment in the clip, Derek says, “My name is Derek Draper, I want you to hear my story.”

The GMB presenter can be seen sitting on his bed as he asks: ‘You have written that Covid changed everything. You mean you?’, to which Derek replied, ‘Yes.’

A source told the publication: ‘Derek really wanted to make this documentary and give his opinion. “It was incredibly brave of him to let cameras into his house.”

Speaking to co-host Ed Balls on Good Morning Britain, Kate admitted that “I can’t believe” that Derek, who died in January, isn’t with her to “see her story.”

‘It’s been quite emotional actually. It makes you want to jump on the screen and give him a hug.

And with the documentary set to air on Tuesday, Kate previously spoke about how it feels to have completed the project, as she confessed it had been “quite emotional” working on it.

Speaking to co-host Ed Balls on Thursday’s episode of Good Morning Britain, Kate admitted that “I can’t believe” Derek isn’t with her to “see her story.”

‘It’s been quite emotional actually. It makes you want to jump on the screen and give him a hug.

‘You can’t believe he’s not with us to see his story. But hopefully it will be helpful to other people going through the same thing. That is the dream and the desire.’

After viewers saw a preview of the show earlier this week, Ed added: “It was very moving to hear him speak in (that) clip we played a couple of days ago. because in At the same time, there’s fragility, but it’s also absolutely the Derek I’ve known for 30 years.”

Kate agreed and continued: “You’re right, there is fragility, vulnerability, obviously health issues and deep damage, but yes, he was his own man until the end.”

The mother of two also explained that it was Derek’s decision to make the final documentary in the hopes that it will bring a lot of help to people who also suffer from chronic illnesses.

She explained: “It was his idea to do this and his story, so I hope that, as I say, when it airs next Tuesday, it brings a lot of help to a lot of people who are in the situation where Derek has a long-term illness and those around from those who care for them and also from professional caregivers.’

Kate previously chronicled the impact of caring for her husband in two other ITV documentaries titled Finding Derek and Caring For Derek.

Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story Airs on Tuesday at 9pm and will be available to stream on ITVX.