Kate Garraway’s 14-year-old son Billy shares a tender moment with his dad Derek Draper in the upcoming documentary about his life and health battle.
On Tuesday, Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story, will air on ITV, chronicling the former political lobbyist’s final year of life before his death in January aged 56.
Filmed in May 2023, the episode, which has been praised by critics, confronts the reality of Derek’s struggles and the effect on those around him in never-before-seen images and footage.
In one tender scene, Kate, 56, is celebrating her birthday and suggests that Billy and Derek look at some of the cards she has been sent as they look after him at his bedside.
Billy first reads one card before Derek can be seen reading out another of the cards, and smiling at the sweet message as he says: ‘It’s from the neighbour Maggie.’
Kate Garraway ‘s 14-year-old son Billy shares a tender moment with his dad Derek Draper in the upcoming documentary about his life and health battle
In one tender scene, Kate, 56, is celebrating her birthday and suggests that Billy and Derek look at some of the cards she has been sent as they look after him at his bedside
Billy then gently jokes: ‘Well read it out, you can’t just say who it’s from!’
Derek then starts laughing, before appearing to become emotional as he lays in the bed.
In a tear-jerking moment, Billy then leans down and kisses his father on the shoulder before leaving the room.
Just after Kate and Derek then share a sweet moment as they say ‘I love you’ to each other.
Derek is seen becoming frustrated as he struggles to communicate while attempting to read one of her birthday messages.
Kate then tells the political advisor she ‘loves him’ but is met by a long pause before encouraging him to say it back.
Watching the scene back during Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain, Kate explained: ‘The way you show love, he couldn’t do.
‘He felt disempowered to show to love, he couldn’t communicate. We were having to relearn this dynamic.
Billy first reads one card before Derek can be seen reading out another of the cards, and smiling at the sweet message as he says: ‘It’s from the neighbour Maggie’
Billy then gently jokes: ‘Well read it out, you can’t just say who it’s from!’ Derek then starts laughing, before appearing to become emotional as he lays in the bed
In a tearjerking moment, Billy then leans down and kisses his father on the shoulder before leaving the room
Just after Kate and Derek then share a sweet moment as they say ‘I love you’ to each other
Kate then tells the political advisor she ‘loves him’ but is met by a long pause before encouraging him to say it back
Watching the scene back during Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain, Kate explained: ‘He felt disempowered to show to love, he couldn’t communicate’
‘The love is still there but you have to grow together and that is why we needed the support from carers.’
In another scene from the upcoming documentary, Kate admitted she didn’t ‘feel loved’ by her husband Derek as she opened up about their relationship.
Kate was asked if she ‘accepts you’ll have to care for him forever?’
She responded: ‘That bit yes I have accepted that completely. I think that’s our role. But how that translates into the relationship is a work in progress.’
Offering a heartbreakingly honest account of how Derek’s condition had impacted their 19-year marriage, she continued: ‘Sometimes you show love with a big bouquet of roses or bringing a cup of tea and he can’t do any of that for me.
‘So he’s trying to work out how to love me. I know he loves me but how does he show that?’
Admitting there are moments when she doesn’t ‘feel’ it from her husband, Kate added: ‘I’m trying to work out if I feel loved by him.
She added: ‘I know I am but we’ve got a whole journey there.’
Elsewhere in the documentary, Kate opened up about her heartbreak for Derek himself, sharing: ‘The tragedy for me is that it feels like his brain was his best friend and now it’s his worst enemy.’
In another scene Kate admitted she didn’t ‘feel loved’ by her husband Derek as she opened up about their relationship in a documentary marking his final days
Offering a honest account of how Derek’s condition had impacted their marriage, she said: ‘Sometimes you show love with bringing a cup of tea and he can’t do any of that for me’
Detailing a rough patch he was going through, Kate shared: ‘He has been very down.
‘Wondering about the future a lot of crying. “I’ve let everybody down and what is the meaning of life? what can I contribute?”
‘The thing that helps that is having that sense of purpose, remind him these things take time even if I don’t really know if that’s the answer.’
Kate’s late husband was plagued with health woes after contracting Covid in March 2020, which saw him put in a coma, battle sepsis and left with difficulties communicating.
Derek’s Story features him talking on camera for the first time since his health battle as he admitted: ‘I want to be heard.’
READ MORE: Kate Garraway details crippling cost of Derek Draper’s care: ‘We’re in debt and I can’t earn enough to cover it’
In another scene, Derek was writing in his bed as Kate watched on, with the Good Morning Britain presenter remarking his handwriting was ‘not as clear’ as before but recalling: ‘When I first saw you write your name I burst into tears. You’re still there.’
While Derek admitted he could feel an improvement in his health and their son Billy said he could ‘see the difference’, Kate confessed that she couldn’t allow herself to think about what this meant going forward.
She explained: ‘I don’t look forward to the future because every time I feel like this is really fantastic, and we’ve had some amazing moments, something terrible has happened.’
Kate also opened up about the crippling debt she accrued caring for Derek, admitting she’s at ‘crunch point’.
Faced with a debt of up to £800,000 Kate confessed: ‘Derek’s care costs more than my salary from ITV and that’s before you pay for a mortgage or household bills or anything for the kids – so that is a crunch point.
‘We are in debt and I can’t earn enough money to cover my debt because I’m managing Derek’s care.
‘I can’t even use the money I do have to support Derek’s recovery because it’s going to the basics all the time.
‘I’m not going to pretend I’m poorly paid but it’s not enough.
‘Time and time again the state tells us Derek is not sick enough to qualify for state funded care.
‘I’ve appealed but that still hasn’t been processed three years later. If this is what’s it like for me then what’s it like for everybody else?’
Kate continued: ‘Something has to be done or the whole service, the people working in it, everything is going to break.
‘We are entirely reliant on extraordinary carers but the system they work for is incredibly complicated and underfunded…
‘Why is it people get sick and it’s no longer considered the right thing for them to be in hospital, why does coming home feel like falling off a cliff?’
READ MORE: How Kate Garraway honoured her husband’s dying wish with new documentary
His limitations and his need for care was evident in the documentary, with the father-of-two breaking down in tears as he attempted to pull himself up onto a walking aide with the help of his mobility therapist.
Unable to stand, Derek burst into tears and labelled himself ‘pathetic’ in heartbreaking scenes.
Kate attempted to console him, insisting ‘it’s not pathetic, you’re absolutely trying’ and the strain on her face was also clear to see.
One sweet moment saw Kate task Derek with opening some of her birthday cards and reading out the messages for her, but even that simple action left Derek in need of rest.
Former Labour insider and psychotherapist Derek married presenter Kate in 2005 and they went on to welcome children Darcey 17 and Billy, 14.
In 2021, just over a year after contracting Covid, he was able to leave hospital and return to his family home in north London, with round-the-clock care.
In August 2022 he was taken to hospital with sepsis but pulled through. Then in early December 2023, Derek had a heart attack and was taken to hospital again.
Tragically, he wasn’t able to overcome the latest medical emergency and on January 5 Kate confirmed that Derek died.
In a post on social media, she said that her husband died surrounded by family and that she was ‘holding his hand throughout the last long hours’.
Derek had been plagued with health woes after contracting the virus in March 2020, which saw him put in a coma, battle sepsis and left with difficulties communicating (pictured 2019)
She said his Covid infection had left him with lasting damage to his heart which had led to ‘further complications’.
Kate also thanked the medical teams for making his final moments as ‘comfortable and dignified as possible.’
understands Derek passed away on Wednesday night (January 3) in a north London hospital.
Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story airs on on Tuesday at 9pm and will be available to stream on ITVX.