Kate Garraway reached out to Haringey Council via social media on Tuesday night, with the Good Morning Britain star claiming her late husband Derek Draper has been receiving ‘unsettling post making demands’

Kate Garraway has issued a desperate plea for help as the grieving star tries to respond to “unsettling post making demands” addressed to her late husband.

The Good Morning Britain presenter, 56, took to Twitter (X) on Tuesday night to publicly message to Haringey Council after struggling for 10 days in her attempt to speak to someone regarding her husband Derek Draper’s death.

In her message to the council, visible to her 524,600 followers, Kate explained how she had been on hold for almost 50 minutes trying to get through to the correct department in order to discuss “unsettling post making demands” which Derek can “obviously not respond to” following his death at the start of the year.

She tweeted: “@haringeycouncil -please help – have been trying for ten days solid to speak to someone about my husband passing away – following unsettling post making demands which obviously he can’t respond to. I just cannot get through. Again today nearly 50 mins wait & before I could ….

The ITV presenter’s beloved husband died at the start of this year (
Image:
ITV)

Kate, who recently revealed she has debts of over £800,000 due to the financial cost of Derek’s care, continued in an additional tweet: “@haringeycouncil … the man put me straight back to the beginning – another 20 mins and then it timed out as shuts at 5pm. Is there a bereavement service or SOMETHING!!!!”

“Don’t give up Kate just calm and keep trying to get hold of the council,” one of Kate’s followers told the star on Tuesday night in reply to her plea, with another adding: “I agree with other posts Kate – get hold of your local councillor if you can. So sorry to hear you have this on top of everything else you and your family have endured.”

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Derek passed away at the start of the year the age of just 56, after a four-year battle with long Covid. The former lobbyist’s battle started back in March 2020 when he contracted Covid and dealt with various health complications thereafter. Despite his critical condition needing constant attention, no funding was forthcoming, digging Kate deeper into debt to afford his needed care.

During a recent interview, Kate opened up about her estimates of the care debt standing between a staggering £500,000 and £800,000. The broadcaster while still in mourning wondered out loud: “Derek’s needs were clearly so great, yet he didn’t warrant funded care – so you think, ‘If he isn’t getting it, then who is?’

Kate was flooded with support after sharing the public tweet (
Image:
kategarraway/Twitter)
“To be fair to them, no one’s contacted me since he’s passed away to ask for that. They may well still do, but they haven’t as yet. The bigger picture of the further appeals I haven’t addressed yet, because I’m still in survival mode.”

Speaking about the lack of support from the state, Kate told The Sunday Times: “It’s supposed to be a system that’s meant to catch you if you fall. But actually, it feels like it’s trying to catch you out. You feel like you’re in the dock answering questions about things that will literally mean life or death to someone you love.”

Kate announced the death of her husband on 5th January, telling her Instagram followers: “I’m sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away. As some of you may know he has been critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications.”

“Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed. I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible. Sending so much love and thanks to all of you who have so generously given our family so much support. Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life.”