ITV's Susanna Reid fights tears as she reads Kate Garraway's heartbreaking tribute to Derek Draper on GMB

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Susanna Reid was left teary eyed after Good Morning Britain paid a heartbreaking tribute to Kate Garraway's late husband Derek Draper.The late lobbyist sadly passed away on Friday January 5 after a long and brave battle with the complications of Covid19 which saw his health first decline back in March 2020 when the virus left him with severe damage to his organs.Back in December, the 56-year-old took a turn for the worse when he suffered a heart attack which left him critically ill.His wife Kate confirmed his tragic death in a heartbreaking statement on Friday as she revealed she was with him until the very end and held his hand as he slipped away.On the show this morning, Susanna and Richard Madeley paid tribute to Derek and urged viewers to get involved too, the Mirror reports.While speaking about Ben Shephard, Richard said he had been like a "mainstay" for Kate through the hardest times.

At the top of the show, Susanna said: "Good morning everybody. On Friday, Kate revealed the heartbreaking news that her husband Derek Draper had died due to complications from Covid, four years after becoming ill." Richard added: "In his final moments, Darcy and Billy got to say their goodbyes to their father and Kate as always was by Derek's side and, as always, was holding his hand.

This morning, our thoughts and love go out to all of them."Susanna continued on to say that Kate had written down how she was feeling and "in her typically selfless style" she had sent an email in for viewers, which was read out by Susanna.

She said: "Hello everyone, thank you so much for all the wonderful messages you have sent me. It really does mean so much to me, Darcy, Billy and all of Derek's family."They are an extraordinary comfort and I am so