Coronavirus: Kate Garraway says husband Derek Draper has opened his eyes - BBC News
Derek Draper was put into an induced coma in March after contracting coronavirus.
TV presenter Kate Garraway says her husband, who was put into an induced coma in March, is now able to open his eyes.

Derek Draper, a former political aide, was taken to hospital in March after contracting coronavirus.

"I really believe he can hear," the Good Morning Britain presenter has now told Hello! magazine..

"We're keeping positive and doing everything we can to bring him round."

She continued: "When medical staff say: 'Good morning, Derek,' he sometimes opens his eyes. We and the doctors are doing everything we can so that he can start to recover."

"The children and I communicate with him every day on FaceTime, while a nurse holds his iPad."

The presenter and her family have not been able to visit Draper due to current hospital regulations.

Draper is now coronavirus-free, but Garraway has previously said his body has been significantly damaged and may never recover.

The presenter confirmed to Hello! magazine that she now plans to return to work in an effort to bring structure back to her children's lives.

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"I have to get on with life whilst we are waiting for him to get better," she explained.

"They've told me that I need to go back to work and create a routine in our lives again. The children and Derek are all I've thought about and they're the most important people in my life, but I must create structure and normality for the children."

Last month Garraway said it was "a miracle" her husband was still alive after his "extraordinary" battle with coronavirus.

"The fight with the virus has been won but it's wreaked extraordinary damage to his body," she said.

"It's affected him from the top of his head to the tip of his toes."

Garraway and Draper married in 2005 and have two children.

Garraway is a co-anchor of ITV's Good Morning Britain, as well as a presenter on Smooth Radio, while Draper is an author and former Labour political aide.

At the end of March, Garraway said herself and Draper thought he might be suffering with sinusitis, not coronavirus, because he had no persistent cough or temperature - two of the main official symptoms of the disease.

Draper soon developed a splitting headache and numbness in his right hand and began struggling to breathe. After consulting ITV's Dr Hilary Jones, Garraway decided to phone for an ambulance.

Once in hospital he was eventually placed in a coma, at his own request, to give his lungs a rest, as he felt he was suffocating.

Draper has remained in hospital since, and Garraway says doctors have told her he will not be out before September, when their son Billy starts secondary school.

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