By Caroline Farrow
The nation has, I’m sure, been united in sympathy for the broadcaster Kate Garraway after her husband, former Labour spin doctor, Derek Draper caught Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic.
For a time it looked as though Derek wasn’t going to to pull through; he spent several months in hospital in an induced coma and Kate and their children were told several times to prepare themselves for the worst.
Thankfully, Derek is now home after being in hospital for over a year but his recovery is going to be painstakingly slow. Only this week, Kate, who presents Good Morning Britain, spoke longingly of how she would like to take her husband to Chorley this Christmas to spend time with his family but accepted that this would not be possible because Derek is still bedridden, requires round the clock nursing care and is still sleeping for over 20 hours a day.
In another update, Ms Garraway also spoke of the difficulty in adjusting to the ‘new normal’ for her family and getting used to the way in which her relationship with her husband has fundamentally changed. She described how his loud voice used to drive her mad but how she would now give anything to hear him shouty and ruffling feathers with his opinions, and fondly recalled how he used to refuse to do anything in the morning until he’d had his bath!
Kate was brave enough to allow cameras in to document her story, both while Derek was in hospital fighting the effects of the virus (he suffered multiple organ failure) and when he came home. While her story is desperately sad, it is also incredibly inspiring which is why it won a National Television Award. Kate’s love for her husband, her anguish over his ordeal and her refusal to give up on him, clearly resonated with viewers. She was even written to by a senior member of the Royal Family, purportedly Prince Charles, who expressed their admiration and offered support.
Derek’s case is incredibly rare: he is apparently one of only a handful of patients in the world, to be so dramatically afflicted by Covid but there is a stark contrast between the way he has been treated and that of another similarly affected patient, who lies in Addenbrooke’s hospital 65 miles to the east of his London home.
This week, the media reported upon the case of a woman, in her 50s like Mr Draper, whose family are fighting a court decision to end her life. The woman, a grandmother, suffered brain damage and paralysis after contracting Covid-19 at the end of 2020 and is now on life support. Mr Justice Hayden, whom readers might remember took the fateful decision to end the life support of Alfie Evans as well as another mother with Covid this year, has ruled that it is in this woman’s best interests for her life support to be ended, after doctors have said that there is nothing more they can do for her and that her life support is proving burdensome to her.
Her family argue that she can still experience and exhibit emotion, she is enjoying watching Mr Bean, Eastenders and a number of her favourite TV shows on her iPad. She pulls a face when she finds something funny, squints when she is in pain, tilts her head in response to questions and is able to recall things to a limited extent.
Importantly, they claim that due to her cultural and religious beliefs, (which might imply she is a Catholic), that when she had full capacity, she consented to the escalation and continuation of her treatment and would not wish for life support to be ended.
There hasn’t been much fuss about this in the media, but once again the courts have pulled their usual trick of ordering that this patient should not be named in the media, supposedly for her protection. This therefore has the effect of silencing the family and limiting their ability to raise public awareness.
The only people protected by this decision are those who would pull the plug on this woman. Naming her would allow for this woman to be humanised, it would draw public sympathy and an outcry over the decision, resulting in criticism on social media or even protests near the hospital and, following the case of Alfie Evans, the establishment are simply not willing to allow that.
Many people, even Christians, seem to be happy to turn a blind eye to this outrageous situation, mainly because they don’t want to believe that the medical profession could be so callous. They believe that the doctors must be right and acting in the woman’s best interests, because the alternative is too frightening and cite Catholic teaching about how extraordinary measures which prove burdensome should not be used to keep patients artificially alive.
While this teaching is correct, however, context is everything. There is a huge difference between a patient who has no consciousness, is unresponsive, for whom nothing can be done and who is likely experiencing discomfort as a result of treatment to keep them breathing and a person such as this lady who, if her barrister is to be believed, can still derive pleasure and enjoyment from life. We have to remember that many doctors no longer share the same Judeo-Christian values about the sanctity and dignity of life and while they may not believe themselves to killing a patient, this is exactly what they are doing, when they take steps to intentionally end a person’s life, even if it is supposedly in their best interests.
Palliative care is not deciding that it is better for a person to die: it is a conscious decision not to treat an illness but to support and accompany a person as they die, taking whatever measures they need to keep them comfortable. When a woman’s life is ended against her previously expressed wishes, then we should call this what it is – forced euthanasia.
It’s the same disregard for religious beliefs exhibited towards Sir David Amess as he lay dying. I’d have more respect for Addenbrooke’s if they could at least admit that the reason that they want to end this woman’s life is financial. Though if, as they claim, she only has a few months left, then one has to ask why they are spending scores of thousands of pounds on the finest lawyers to demand her death, instead of treating her?
As ever in these situations, the family doesn’t qualify for legal aid and has to fight for their loved one’s life at their own financial cost.
I am not imagining the outcome will be good for this woman, so please do pray for her.
Her condition may differ from that of Derek Draper, but it’s interesting nonetheless that the hospital didn’t once dare to suggest putting him onto an end of life care pathway.
The right to life and appropriate medical care should never be dependent on celebrity status.
PHOTO: Kate Garraway in the press room after winning the Authored Documentary award for Kate Garraway: Finding Derek at the National Television Awards 2021 held at the O2 Arena, London. Picture date: Thursday September 9, 2021 PA Wire/PA Images Picture by: Ian West