A new ITV documentary shows Derek Draper's final year with Kate Garraway Get the latest entertainment news sent straight to your inbox with our weekly Showbiz newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest entertainment news sent straight to your inbox with our weekly Showbiz newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Derek Draper shared a heartbreaking message with his wife in the final months before his death. The political lobbyist told Kate to "never give up fighting for what you believe in and for the people you love." The new inciteful documentary will explore Derek's final year with his wife Kate and will be told through his own voice after he wanted the ITV cameras to continue filming him reports the Mirror. Read More Related Articles
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Christmas period by his bedside. Kate explained: "I remember so vividly that the idea of making this third documentary at all came from Derek himself. I hadn’t planned to make another one. At the beginning of January 2023, he’d been released from a four month spell in hospital for sepsis and we were very positive about his recovery. Kate Garraway: Derek's Story airs Tuesday March 26 at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX and STV "Derek was determined to keep on getting better and improving. One day, we were sitting together while I was caring for him and he suddenly, from nowhere, asked, ‘Are we making another documentary?’. I said, ‘Well I hadn’t really planned to. Were you thinking that you would like to?’. And he said firmly “ yes” . I said, ‘Well, if we do, I think we should work on it together and it should be your story, told in your voice.’ "Derek got very emotional at the idea, because his words and speech were so limited and there were so many things he wanted to say about the struggle we were all having as a family and he wanted to speak up about it. "I asked Derek, ‘What would be your main message?’ And he said, ‘Never give up fighting for what you believe in and for the people you love.’ Kate added: "So we set out to make Derek‘s story together to highlight how he and our family are just one of millions who, every day, have to deal with the challenges of severe disability or life- threatening illness. And we wanted to celebrate the incredible work of carers, both professional and those who do it out of love. "We had to find a way of allowing Derek’s voice to be heard and while having to finish it without him has been so hard, I am delighted that the film is a tribute to Derek and his incredible spirit. It’s also a tribute to all of those who fight on to make every second of life count, whatever is thrown at them." Derek died at the start of January with TV host Kate holding his hand "throughout the last long hours" in hospital. He contracted
Coronavirus in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, and suffered multiple organ failure at the time, spending 13 months in hospital. Read More Related Articles ITV Britain's Got Talent Jonathan and Charlotte star's shock transformation 12 years after show Read More Related Articles Naked Attraction host Anna Richardson opens up on marriage with new boyfriend after Sue Perkins heartbreak Kate, who shares children Darcey, 18, and Billy, 14, with Derek, went on to admit the family have "a long way to go" to deal with their grief following Derek's death in January. In an interview to promote the new documentary 'Derek's Story', she said: "Dealing with our grief as a family has been so hard, and we have a long way to go of course. But we are also so grateful to have had the chance to care for Derek and have the extra four years with him that so many don’t. I now want to highlight the incredible people within the care system, and the NHS, who are trying to improve how people like myself and Derek can be better supported." The new film about the last 12 months of his life will show how he returned to the hospital in mid-December last year when he suffered a heart attack and sadly died, with Kate spending much of the Christmas period by his bedside. His fight with the infection has already been the subject of two previous award-winning films also made by Flicker Productions: Finding Derek and Caring for Derek. Top showbiz news Jedward show up at Glasgow pub Stevie Nicks to play Glasgow Hydro Ekin-Su pulls out of Lorraine Kelly chat Piers says William 'hiding something' The film will have close access to Derek and his wife, Kate Garraway, the film provides an insight into his struggles with illness and highlights the challenges faced by millions of people in the
UK living with serious illness and disability and those who care for them. With around five million unpaid carers in
England and Wales, the film also highlights the often prohibitive costs as well as practical difficulties, of caring for people within their homes and features contributions from Jake, the care worker who supports Derek’s care, as well as Kathryn Smith, CEO from charity Social Care Institute for Excellence. Speaking in February on ITV, Kate said she still felt "numb" from the death of her husband. His funeral service was held at the Church of St Mary The Virgin in Primrose Hill, north
London. It was attended by figures including former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, musician Sir Elton John and
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. Kate Garraway: Derek's Story airs Tuesday March 26 at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX and STV. Don't miss the latest news from around
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