Piers Morgan Reflects on Derek Draper’s ‘Appalling’ Final Four Years Before His Death
Piers Morgan recently shared his thoughts on the “appalling” final four years that Derek Draper endured before his death in January this year. Draper, the late husband of Morgan’s former Good Morning Britain co-star Kate Garraway, passed away after a prolonged battle with severe complications from Covid-19.
The 56-year-old author and former political adviser contracted the virus in March 2020, becoming one of its longest-suffering patients. Throughout the pandemic, Morgan, alongside Kate and Dr. Hilary Jones, provided daily updates on Derek’s condition on the ITV program.
This week, Piers and Dr. Hilary reconnected on the TV doctor’s new podcast with Healthspan. In the episode, Morgan reflected on covering Covid-19, describing it as the most significant public health issue he had ever reported. “I mean, it was riveting. It was fascinating. It was frightening. It was incredibly important,” he told Dr. Hilary. “People were really panicking and thousands of people were dying every day from this unknown virus, and none of us knew how it was all going to play out. None of us knew if we’d ever get a vaccine.”
Morgan recalled the early days of the pandemic as particularly dark and uncertain, with widespread lockdowns and no clear end in sight. “And you and I, along with everybody at Good Morning Britain had very, very firsthand exposure to the reality of COVID with what happened to poor Kate Garraway’s husband, Derek, and that was horrific,” he said. He credited Dr. Hilary with saving Derek’s life during a critical moment by advising immediate hospital care. Despite this intervention, Derek endured a difficult final four years, reported The Mirror.
Piers also shared a poignant memory of the last time he saw Derek. In a column, he recounted his hopes of catching up with Derek and Kate for drinks in London before Christmas. Unfortunately, these plans were dashed when Derek was flown to Mexico for treatment, where he tragically suffered a cardiac arrest.
Kate managed to bring him back to London before Christmas, where he fought for his life in an Intensive Care Unit but ultimately passed away on January 3. Reflecting on his last encounter with Derek in 2019, Morgan recalled a festive gathering at his annual Christmas pub party in Kensington. “They were blissfully happy that night, kissing and cuddling for the paparazzi outside and telling me with great excitement how they were going to renew their wedding vows the following summer,” he wrote in his column in The Sun.
“Then, just three months later, their whole world collapsed.” Morgan expressed his deep sorrow over never getting to see his friend again, adding that Kate had planned to bring Derek to another Christmas party, which was sadly prevented by Derek’s untimely cardiac arrest. “Now I’ll very sadly never see him again,” Morgan concluded.