Coronavirus: the drama of the television host whose husband spent a year in hospital

The coronavirus pandemic has taken over the world in March 2020 and it was a terrible blow to the entire planet. At that time, the virus mainly affected Europe, where it wreaked havoc in countries like Italy, Spain and the UK and even infected the Prince carlos.

When the news of the affair of Covid positive in British royalty, all the people who had been in close contact with the queen’s son Isabel II has entered an alarm state. One of them had been Kate garraway, the host of the classic British TV series Hello Great Britain.

On March 11, days before Prince Charles’ infection became known, Garraway spoke with him at the awards ceremony. Prince’s Trust. “Around March 29, I came home and saw my husband in very bad shape. I said, ‘God, Derek, you look sick, ”the reporter said of the days it started his worst nightmare.

“He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand and it was difficult for him to breathe. I called the doctor Hilary robert jones, who spoke to Derek, then asked to speak to me again. “The doctor was upfront with Garraway.” I think you need to Call an ambulance“, he told him.

Derek, 52, was admitted to hospital on March 30 with very low oxygen levels and remained unconscious, interned in intensive care. Meanwhile, the journalist and the two children in the family remained in isolation at home and went through the illness with mild symptoms.

Garraway said that when they put him in the ambulance, her husband told her, “This is not the last time you will see me. It’s not that“. Although for her this sentence revealed the fear she had. “He would never have said that if at least a small part of him hadn’t wondered if he was going to die,” she recalls.

The news from the hospital was dramatic. Derek is still in intensive care and is still very ill. I’m afraid this will continue to be an unbearably worrying moment, ”said the journalist, who had to take care of her family and quit her television job.

The patient’s body was “totally affected” by the disease, which meant that it was in his lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas.

During the roller coasters of those days, Garraway had no rest and could not stop suffering from her husband’s plight. “His messages were getting more and more desperate. It was heartbreaking to read them, ”he admitted.

When asked by the media about her husband’s health, Kate said: “I’m afraid he is still in extremely critical condition, but he’s still there, which means there is hope“.

With some financial problems, added to the psychological support she had to provide to her children, the journalist took place amidst utter uncertainty. “The journey for me and my family seems far from over as each day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways in which this virus has more battles for Derek,” he told the ‘time.

In June, the driver reported that her husband no longer had the presence of coronavirus in his body, but still he had to recover from the damage the Covid had caused to his vital organs.

Four months after Derek’s admission, finally woke up from a coma. However, his condition was still extremely serious and couldn’t even open my eyes. Garraway said the recovery could take “years”.

By September, Derek had already become the Covid patient with the longest recovery in the world. In this context, the driver announced that she would return to the radio so that her husband could hear his voice in the hospital.

During a video call, Garraway was moved to hear her husband speak for the first time in seven months. What’s the word he said? “Pain”, What else could this be …

During, the family fought the tragedies that happenedDebts, problems at home like a broken refrigerator or a flood in the house which only made the drama worse. They also had to suffer the theft of their car.

At the hospital, the fight continued, Derek walked in and out of the coma. And exhausted, he launched a deadly phrase during a phone call with his wife: “I want you at the funeral“.

The cold, the Christmas season, the fatigue of confinement and the pain of a struggle that did not give a break, took a break in the last days of December when Garraway and his children Darcey (15) and Bowl (11) were able to visit Derek in the hospital.

Finally, in April, after more than 373 days in the hospital, Derek was able to return home. “It’s a unique situation so (doctors) are looking for unique solutions,” said the presenter, who described this year as the most difficult experience of her life.

However, Derek’s condition remains critical, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to be the same again. “He has not recovered his speech and remains seriously ill. Doctors say he was the most serious patient to survive the virus, ”the reporter said.

In order to welcome her into her home, Garraway had to adapt her home to be more accessible to her husband, who cannot move or speak to himself and you must always be on a stretcher or in a wheelchair.

He installed a ramp outside his house, in addition to transforming the garage into a specially prepared room to heal him. Now we think that faces tens of thousands of pounds medical bills and that is why she should have been helped by her friends.

Derek will work with physiotherapists and speech language pathologists as part of his recovery. Garraway also revealed that her home is equipped with an alarm system in case her husband needs urgent care. “He can push a button with his right hand if he needs us. We hope it’s something final and that he doesn’t have to go back to the hospital, ”he said.

The doctor Ron daniels, intensivist National health service (NHS), explained in an interview with Daily mail, what happened with this case and what are the reasons why his recovery is so complex.

“It’s a bit like having a cast after breaking your legWhen it comes off six weeks later, the leg is worn out, it’s much thinner and you have to go to a physiotherapist to get your strength back, ”Daniels said.

“He was trapped in a hospital bed with serious illness, never exercising. You will have lost a significant amount of muscle mass as a result of your body breaking down», Assured the doctor.

On Derek’s inability to speak, Daniels claimed that the cognitive cost of being in a coma for four months, as well as brain damage caused by the disease itself, could contribute to the clinical picture.

“In addition to the cognitive failure and the consequences of being in a coma for so long, they will experience underlying damage from Covid, including damage to nerve fibers. For these reasons, it may take time for your ability to speak to recover and its cognitive function may not be completely resolved, ”he concluded.

THE NATION