Kate Garraway returned to Good Morning Britain on Friday to give viewers an update on her husband Derek Draper's lengthy battle with coronavirus. The presenter explained how he was doing, how his illness had initially appeared and also the last words that the father-of-two had said to Kate and their children Darcey and Billy before being put into a coma.
WATCH: Kate reveals the last words she said to her husband before he was put into a coma
MORE: Kate Garraway cries as she reveals her husband Derek's last words to her and their children
Talking about the moment he was taken away on an ambulance on Dr Hilary Jones' advice, she said: "He was thinking, 'What do I take with me', we were rushing around, helped him down the stairs and they put him in the ambulance and put a mask on him to breathe and Darcey and Billy came out all worried and said 'You're the best children anybody could ever ask for, look after mum, be good for her.'
© Photo: RexKate pictures with her children during her weekly Clap for Our Carers outing
"He went into the ambulance and that was it. Went into hospital and went straight to intensive care."
The presenter, 53, detailed how despite being in intensive care the first week, he was still awake and talking regularly to her.
MORE: Ben Shephard reveals Kate Garraway's daughter gave her a haircut for GMB return
"In that first week it looked like he was rallying, the doctors were very positive. But he was very bad. He couldn't really speak to me because of the mask, he was begging me, saying, 'I can't stand this, I feel like I'm suffocating every second of the day, I can't take it, please let them put me in a coma'.
© Photo: RexThe family have been speaking to Derek via FaceTime while he remains in a coma
"There was a debate on that so he could rest his lungs and I would say 'We're not putting you in a coma, the doctors are saying no, we've got to wait' because if his lungs can still work, that's better."
She continued: "And then on the Sunday morning they rang me up and the doctor said, 'We've got him here we're going to put him into a coma, he can hear you, he is right here'.
"He said, 'I love you, I have to leave you.' And I said, 'It's only for 3 or 4 days and you're going to be fine, this is good because this is what you wanted and it will allow you to rest' and he just said, 'You've saved my life,' because I think he thought I had persuaded the doctors to put him in a coma, obviously I hadn't.
"He said: 'You saved my life and I don't just mean now, I mean everything, being married to you and the children, you've saved my life' and then I said 'I love you, I love you', and the doctors said, 'He's gone, he is under,' and that's it, that's the last time I spoke to him".
