Derek Draper, the husband of Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway, has returned home after spending more than a year in hospital following a severe bout of coronavirus.
The 53-year-old was hospitalised last March just after the UK entered its first lockdown and was placed into an induced coma to give him the best chance of surviving the illness.
Draper spent most of 2020 either in the coma or in a minimal state of consciousness, while he suffered multiple organ failures as part of his health battle.
In recent months his condition has started to improve, however, and he is now well enough to relocate back to the family home in North London, although he will still continue to receive around-the-clock care.
"Kate's dreamt of this day for so long, and can't thank wonderful NHS staff enough," a friend told The Sun.
"The professional medical teams who have been looking after Derek have decided to release him from hospital into 24-hour care at home.
"They noticed that his cognition and consciousness had stalled and, if anything, was going backwards over the last couple of months.
"Derek is a unique case. The medical experts are now looking at unique ways to give Derek every chance of making the best recovery, and agree that being surrounded by his wife Kate and their two children, is vital to reaching that goal.
"The hope is that by boosting his mental health - which being surrounded by his loved ones clearly will do - Derek's physical health will be significantly bolstered too."
Draper's battle with the disease was documented in the one-off ITV piece Kate Garraway: Finding Derek last month.
Neil Wilkes
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