Kate Garraway went to great lengths to adapt her home for her husband Derek Draper, who was seriously ill with Covid and passed away on 3 January this year. Derek, a former political lobbyist, was in a coma for months after the virus severely affected his internal organs.
During this time, Good Morning Britain presenter Kate worked hard to keep family life going. She took a break from the ITV breakfast show as she adjusted to the new challenges in her life, before returning when Derek's condition and outlook became clearer.
After spending 13 months in hospital, Derek was finally able to come home. But first, Kate made several changes to their home to ensure he could continue to receive care.
In her ITV documentary Finding Derek, Kate showed the major changes she'd made to her home. She revealed that she had installed a wheelchair lift, an alarm system, a wet room and a bedroom on the ground floor.
Kate made her home wheelchair-friendly for Derek's recovery. She even had builders install floor-to-ceiling windows facing the garden so Derek could watch their kids play.
Kate shared: "At the moment what we're doing, we've got an occupational therapist that deals with the lay out of the home, looking at putting in a wet room basically, ground floor living. He'll either be on a stretcher or a wheelchair. And also they're trying to figure out how to put a lift in the garden."
Her Good Morning Britain co-host Ben Shephard told viewers that Kate said: "It's like having a ward at home now because he needs so much equipment."
But now, Kate faces another challenge. The enormous cost that came with caring for Derek might force her to sell the £4million home where she cared for him.
She admitted things were 'tough financially' recently and even detailed being 'ashamed' of the debt she is in after caring for Derek.
Talking about the financial struggles on GMB last week, Kate said: "I'm ashamed of the fact I'm in debt, but I'm also proud". Host Richard Madeley then asked why she would be ashamed of her debt, prompting her to admit that despite having a "well paid" job at ITV, she struggled to make things work at home.
"Well, because I have an incredible job that I love, that is very well paid. I'm not a carer, travelling miles, paying their own transport to go and help somebody for minimum wage. I'm somebody that's very well paid. So, I just feel ashamed that I couldn't make it work," she said.
Kate also paid for two trips to Mexico for pioneering treatment hoping it would help his recovery.
