Kate Garraway and her husband

Is what KG said not me.

Kate has just been given another award for reporting on the pandemic.
She has just said that he does understand everything that's been said but cant necessarily respond. And his eyes lit up and filled with tears when he heard she had won the NTA for Finding Derek. It feels as though he is reacting more to everything.

Flaxwoven That's the great thing about GN - to be able to see other options & opinions outside our RL bubbles - in the wider sense of the word.
Looking back, in stressful times I do write things down - it lets me empty my head a little, but also acknowledge glimmers of joy inbetween.
- You should see my Covid Diary!
? ?

Theworriedwell. Yes Rob Burrow's story is tragic. Such a young family struck with this devastating blow. Truly heartbreaking.

JaneJudge

Flaxwoven, it sounds like you have been through a terrible ordeal you have been very dignified in coming back. We all say things in haste, we wouldn't be human if we didn't

whatdayisit, I haven't watched the Rob Burrow documentary, I'll watch it. We lost a friend to MND and it was devastatingly quick and cruel

It is shocking how quickly MND took hold of Rob Burrow and again the pandemic hasn't helped him.
His children made some Xmas cards for the MND association to raise money and his esteem mate and Captain Kevin Sinfield ran 26 marathons in 26 days and raised over a million pounds.
I hope you watch the documentary JaneJudge. I'm sorry to hear about your friend dieing of MND it is the cruelest of diseases. It is so cruel.

Your responsibility as a professional carer, in ensuring a patient's privacy is totally different than a wife's whose husband may or may not be able to communicate his wishes, theworriedwell. Kate, as his wife, is best able to judge that.
Perhaps take time to reflect on the views on this thread.
I really don't know how Kate manages to hold down a job and be there for her children under such circumstances, it's heartbreaking.

MissAdventure

I really have yet to meet someone who is totally unable to communicate in some way or another, and I too have a long history of care work.
We go to extraordinary lengths to find out what their particular method is, and keep updating regularly.

I really have yet to meet someone who is totally unable to communicate in some way or another, and I too have a long history of care work.
We go to extraordinary lengths to find out what their particular method is, and keep updating regularly.

BlueBelle

Theworriedwell you ve no idea what he can or can’t understand nor have I, but I bet his wife has a much clearer idea than either of us, so let’s presume she knows him better than us eh
Not for us to judge is it?

She has said she doesn't know if he understands.

grannyrebel7

I admire Kate for what she has done and how she's kept it all together. I think it's great that she's using her celebrity status to keep long Covid in the spotlight. She'll fight for Derek to the bitter end and for that she should be applauded not villified.

You don't have to film the man in bed crying or trying to communicate to keep it in the public eye.

Josianne

Thank you JaneJudge.
Gwyneth's comment about the upsetting photos of Derek's suffering being out there for everyone to see was kind of what I meant in my comparison with Michael Schuhmacher who is probably in an even worse state. The pictures in our minds of the latter, however, are all of MS being fit, healthy and happy because these are the photos the family have chosen to put out over the past 8 years or so. Kate has chosen to concentrate on her Derek's poorly condition and prognosis and that is entirely her business.
Many people want to keep quiet about their illness like Freddie Mercury, Victoria Wood etc because they want to protect the privacy of those around them or because they want to be remembered in a happy way, not suffering. Everyone is different.
I really hadn't intended the money side of things to have anything to do with my post about Schuhmacher, although I can see the issue raised.

It isn't entirely her business, it is his business.

BlueBelle

Alizarin and you may well have helped others in a similar position
Theworriedwell for someone so private, you seem to think you know an awful lot about Kate and her husbands abilities Do stop worrying about what hasn’t really got anything to do with you
You have no more idea that any of us if he can convey his ideas, consent, feelings to her or not I m sure she’s savvy enough to know if he was the sort of man who would have said ‘go on do it’ or ‘don’t you dare’ and that s all that matters

Oh right so you can only comment if you think it is right to invade his privacy? You don't really grasp what a discussion is to you.

Why exactly are you worrying about them or worrying about what I think?

How many people have ever discussed the possibility of having a devastating illness and their partner filming them and making a documentary and showing it to whoever wants to watch? I certainly haven't and I don't suppose many people have. She might know what he would want or she might think she knows. Doesn't alter the fact that from what she has said he doesn't seem to be able to give consent.

Whatdayisit

I have to say I didn't vote for Finding Derek in the NTAs because it was up against Rob Burrow's My Year with MND.
Rob Burrow is one of Rugby League's top legends and two years ago he was diagnosed with MND.
He is a great man with a devestating story to tell about his life changing battle. He was a hero on the pitch and he is an even bigger hero now especially to his lovely family.
The more people who are struck down with life changing illnesses and disabilities who tell their story help those living anonymous lives live a better life.
I do feel that so many people don't want to see people with disabilities living their lives. Everyone is an individual and every person living with disability is as equal to those living without disability. People need to be less prejudice and more accepting. Disability does not discriminate.

Rob Burrows seems such a lovely man, he is really inspirational. Heartbreaking to watch.

Flaxwoven, it sounds like you have been through a terrible ordeal you have been very dignified in coming back. We all say things in haste, we wouldn't be human if we didn't

whatdayisit, I haven't watched the Rob Burrow documentary, I'll watch it. We lost a friend to MND and it was devastatingly quick and cruel

I think she is using her platform to help her cope with her situation. Who knows what we would do if we were her. Also, she has become the sole breadwinner and maybe these documentaries, books, etc help her to keep up the standard of living she and her kids have become used to. Is it right? Who can judge. All I know is I wouldn’t want to be her.

I agree that my comment was harsh and judgemental and ill thought through. We are all different. I went through 20 years of my son's schizophrenia, a 20-year nightmare, before he died, and I found it helpful to write everything down, every meeting, everything that happened, and I suppose Kate being a journalist is used to being in the public eye. I spoke to a friend whose wife was dying of cancer and he used to send the most explicit emails about her condition, and he said it helped him to write it all down, to share it.

I have to say I didn't vote for Finding Derek in the NTAs because it was up against Rob Burrow's My Year with MND.
Rob Burrow is one of Rugby League's top legends and two years ago he was diagnosed with MND.
He is a great man with a devestating story to tell about his life changing battle. He was a hero on the pitch and he is an even bigger hero now especially to his lovely family.
The more people who are struck down with life changing illnesses and disabilities who tell their story help those living anonymous lives live a better life.
I do feel that so many people don't want to see people with disabilities living their lives. Everyone is an individual and every person living with disability is as equal to those living without disability. People need to be less prejudice and more accepting. Disability does not discriminate.

Yes JaneJudge possibly the almost shutting down of our lives has made parts of our brain work more than usual or the busy cogs slowed and gave chance for other cogs to process.
I don't think things will return to pre 2020. So much has changed.

Alizarin, I agree with BlueBelle too, I imagine it did help other people in a similar situation. It must have been a really isolating experience for you and if it gave you some peace to write about it, I can't see how it is wrong.

Alizarin and you may well have helped others in a similar position
Theworriedwell for someone so private, you seem to think you know an awful lot about Kate and her husbands abilities Do stop worrying about what hasn’t really got anything to do with you
You have no more idea that any of us if he can convey his ideas, consent, feelings to her or not I m sure she’s savvy enough to know if he was the sort of man who would have said ‘go on do it’ or ‘don’t you dare’ and that s all that matters

Whatdayisit, I feel like I have had some sort of triggered previous trauma during this period of covid too. I am remembering things that happened 2-3 decades ago and some of my dreams are horrific. I don't think things will ever be the same for a lot of people ever again and those of us who had suffered something life changing before, it has brought it all back. I suppose it's normal in a way and just part of the ongoing processing of grief?

I bought Kate's book the day it came out and it wasn't easy reading and revisiting the previous 12 months.

We as a family went through a devastating life change where months were spent in hospital and part of the reading made me revisit that.
I also had covid and then long covid which I think apart from brain fog the contraceptive pill and the 2nd vaccine has got me through it.
Derek's is a fascinating story too and I think Kate should tell it and it isn't over.
People living with long term disabilities and children having their family life changed in a blink of an eye are much better stories to tell than the only way of Essex celebrities becoming parents.

I think Kate is using her journalistic platform for good use. And she hardly mentions it in her professional role it is only when people ask.
I hope soon Derek can show how proud he is of Kate and I hope they can move forward as a family. Life will never be the same for them but there is still a good life to live and people to love. It is very sad that they are in this position and that they are getting criticised.
And money is needed it is her income and she shouldn't be ashamed of doing her best to support her family.

I was a journalist when my first baby went blind, aged three weeks. I wrote many different articles about the experience, for all sorts of publications, from educational to women's magazines. I got paid for them. I wonder if I had been a 'name' people would have thought I was taking advantage of it. Looking back, it helped me enormously to write about it. Kate Garraway is doing what comes naturally to her and surely is the best one to know how her husband feels about it.

And to be fair a fat lot of good it did Freddie Mercury who was photographed and speculated about endlessly. I think people who are ill or caring for someone who is ill just cant win with regards to how people view them.