Kate Garraway has revealed she has resorted to withdrawing money from her pension to pay her late husband Derek Draper’s huge healthcare bills.
The Good Morning Britain presenter, 57, shared her financial struggles during a discussion about the NHS and private care.
Following Derek’s death, Kate revealed she ended up with debts of between £500,000 and £800,000 as she tried to fund her husband’s round-the-clock medical care, following his battle with Covid in 2020.
In an ITV documentary last month, the star admitted she couldn’t even afford to have the heating on in October.
Kate revealed she took money out of her pension to pay for Derek’s late medical bills, after sharing the results of a GMB survey, which revealed one in five Brits go into debt while funding private healthcare.
Kate Garraway has revealed she has resorted to withdrawing money from her pension to pay her late husband Derek Draper’s huge healthcare bills.
Following Derek’s death, Kate revealed she ended up thousands of pounds in debt while trying to fund her husband’s round-the-clock medical care.
She said: ‘I am also doing something similar.
‘I have had to withdraw the tax-free part of my pension to pay the overdue bills of my husband, who has since passed away.
“People are having to do things (it wasn’t a huge pension to begin with) that aren’t what they saved for.”
Kate previously shared that she researched how to access her pension fund early to try to fund Derek’s care.
On a recent episode of GMB, he said: “Only when a crisis hits do you suddenly think hmm.”
‘I have experience of this, Derek fell very ill in March 2020. I knew he had some pensions, I had a small one that I knew of.’
Over the weekend, Kate also celebrated her first birthday since Derek’s death and shared a video on Instagram of her relaxing lunch with a group of friends.
The clip showed a smiling Kate blowing out her birthday candles and she captioned her post: “Well yesterday was another one of those sad first years – my first birthday since Derek passed away.”
Kate revealed that she took money out of her pension to pay for Derek’s medical bills.
Derek was one of the first in the UK to become seriously ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to an intensive care unit when the country went into lockdown in March 2020.
Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas and died on January 3 (pictured with Kate in 2019)
Over the weekend, Kate also celebrated her first birthday since Derek’s death and shared a video on Instagram of her relaxing lunch with a group of friends.
The clip showed a smiling Kate blowing out her birthday candles.
In a heartfelt caption, Kate said she felt “so sad” when she woke up on her birthday, but decided to spend the day “celebrating life” after Derek’s battle with Covid.
‘I woke up feeling very sad and thought, “Well, I can cry all day or celebrate life like he did so well.” And thanks to wonderful friends it worked!
‘See you at @gmb tomorrow from 6. Happy holiday weekend everyone!’
Kate spent her last birthday opening her cards and reading them aloud to her COVID-stricken husband, which was seen by fans in emotional scenes during her documentary, Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story.
The journalist is now determined to create “wonderful new memories” for her two children, Darcey, 18, and Billy, 14, four months after their father’s death.
Derek was one of the first in the UK to become seriously ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to an intensive care unit when the country went into lockdown in March 2020.
He was one of the worst Covid patients in the country after being in hospital, but never fully recovered after the virus left lasting damage to his organs and meant he needed 24-hour care.
Derek suffered a heart attack before Christmas and died on January 3rd.
