Kate Garraway and her children are "over the moon and overwhelmed" after a first weekend at home with her husband Derek Draper in more than a year.
Kate Garraway
The 53-year-old TV presenter and her kids Darcey, 15, and Billy, 11, welcomed Derek back home on Wednesday (07.04.21) after he spent more than a year in hospital battling coronavirus and then the after-effects, and she admitted their children have been "really helpful" on his continued road to recovery.
She said: "We are over the moon and overwhelmed in equal measure.
"I do remember that day when you brought home your first born and you had sort of been planning for nine months and then you think, 'What the heck do we do now?'
"It's a little bit like that feeling.
"It's been completely overwhelming but also wonderful.
"It was a medical reason for coming home as well as our desire and his desire to encourage a more normal environment to stimulate his recovery and consciousness and they [the children] have been absolutely loving it.
"Really helpful. It's been great actually."
And Kate joked she has had to tell her kids she is "still the boss" after they went to check numerous decisions with their father since he returned home, after a year without him being in the house.
She quipped: "I've noticed a little bit of deferring actually, like, 'Should we check with dad?' "And I'm like, 'Hold on, wait a minute, hang on a minute I'm still the boss.'
"They are absolutely excited and overwhelmed. And obviously we are there for support but I'm not a doctor."
Kate is said to have spent thousands transforming her home to support Derek's ongoing recovery, and she admitted there is an alarm system in place if he needs assistance.
Speaking on 'Good Morning Britain' today (12.04.21), she added: "He can press it with his right hand if he needs us.
"There are people there for Derek, there is someone there for the children. It was a slightly strange feeling when I thought, 'Oh my goodness.'
"We hope this will be the future situation and he won't have to go back to hospital."
Despite returning home, Derek is still receiving 24-hour care, and he will have speech and language therapy and physiotherapy there.
Last week, Kate revealed Derek burst into tears when he arrived home and saw Darcey and Billy.
She said: "As we pulled up I could see Darcey and Billy looking out of the window and they ran out and opened the door and he immediately burst into tears and there was a lot of hugging.
"We got him inside and he absolutely knew he was home.
"He is responding all the time, but what he's not able to do is talk and say, like you might imagine Derek might say, 'Why the hell is the place such a mess?'
"It's not like that, but he's absolutely responding and aware of where he is."
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