Kate Garraway given fresh hope as husband Derek undergoes blood treatment

Kate Garraway has been given fresh hope of her husband Derek Draper’s recovery.

Former political lobbyist and father of two Derek, 52, has been fighting for his life in intensive care since March after being struck down by the coronavirus and battling with complications from it.

Throughout Derek’s five month hospital stay, Good Morning Britain presenter Kate has been updating fans about her husband’s condition.

Speaking on the daytime show today, Kate revealed Derek has undergone a procedure called therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) that is now being used by the NHS to try and help those battling the effects of Covid-19.

Kate explained: “Something I saw which intrigued me was this call out from the government for people to come forward to donate blood, so they can make use of blood plasma. Those who have had Covid and recovered.”

The former I’m A Celeb star revealed she had offered to donate her own blood to Derek months ago, believing she had developed antibodies after beating the virus herself.

“I was looking for anything that I was able to do. But they said we are months away from being confident enough to clean your blood,” she explained.

GMB’s Dr Amir, who joined the interview, said the Government are now encouraging people who have tested positive for COVID-19 to donate their plasma.

“The doctors that I was speaking to in America were doing it regularly [for months]… why were we slow to do this?” queried Kate.

“It’s one of these old-fashioned kinds of medical therapies that has come back,” explained Dr Amir. “It was first used in the 1800s to treat children with diphtheria, and then again in the 1900s to treat Spanish flu.

“The NHS and the government are really encouraging people who have tested positive for coronavirus, who have thought they’d had it in the past and perhaps have not had a test yet, to come forward and donate their plasma.

“Their antibodies can be used in patients who are particularly unwell in hospital to help treat their infection.”