Kate Garraway: I'm at my limit after terrifying motorway blow-out

The presenter and her children were rescued by police on Sunday afternoon 
Rachel McGrath27 July 2020
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Kate Garraway has spoken out about the terrifying moment when her car tyre burst as she was driving along the motorway at the weekend.

The Good Morning Britain presenter was at the wheel of her vehicle with her two children, Darcey, 14, and 11-year-old Billy, also in the car.

The accident occurred as the family were making their way home from their first foray outside of London since Garraway's husband, Derek Draper, was hospitalised with coronavirus in March.

Draper, 52, remains in hospital where he is receiving treatment for the "extraordinary damage" the virus has caused to his body.

Testing times: Garraway has had a difficult year and her husband remains in hospital
GMB

Garraway explained that she was driving home when the tyre “suddenly exploded.”

Discussing the incident on today’s GMB, Garraway, 53, recalled: “It’s that moment when you think, ‘I can’t control the car’. All [the] weird steering, smoke, bits of rubber going everywhere.

“I managed to pull over but it was on the section of the motorway where there wasn’t a hard shoulder. That’s when you feel a bit panicky.”

The presenter contacted the AA, who in turn called the police when they realised Garraway and her family were in a highly dangerous location.

Officers then came to tow the vehicle to safety.

Celebrities supporting Clap for Carers to battle Coronavirus

1/11

When Ben Shephard joked that Garraway’s life is pretty dramatic at the moment, she laughed and replied: “I’d just like to put a message out - I’m at my limit. I am at my absolute limit now.”

The I’m A Celebrity star has had a difficult few months and her husband, Derek Draper, remains in hospital after falling seriously ill with coronavirus.

Draper, 52, has fought off the virus and regained consciousness after being put into an induced coma but still faces a huge health battle.

Covid-19: Garraway is unsure when - or if - her husband will be out of hospital
Rex Features

“His lungs are starting to recover a little bit, his kidneys are doing better, his liver is doing better,” she said earlier this month. “But they don’t know how much better he can get.

“It is a very desperate situation, it's very very difficult.”

Garraway shared her gratitude with the officers and AA workers who rescued her in an Instagram post.

Garraway wrote: “Thanks to our amazing saviours Liz & Mark from @kentpoliceuk who rescued me after a full tyre blow out on the motorway!!! Never had one before – utterly terrifying.

“Managed to keep control of car but couldn’t get off motorway as no hard shoulder & when the AA said they couldn’t come for an hour, then rang after half an hour to say might still be an hour had no choice but to call the police.

“They were so brilliant and got us to safety and we are now on way home in taxi, shaken but safe, tow truck on way to car. It’s first time have taken kids out without Derek too, but we are safe.” [sic]

Additional reporting by Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in