Sinead told she has weeks to live
KEN AND BABY BERTIE’S JOINT BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS ARE HALTED BY A BOMBSHELL…
Sinead and Daniel are forced to break the devastating news that those around them have been dreading this week – she only has a few weeks left to live.
As the Barlow and Tinker families gather to mark Ken’s 80th and Bertie’s first birthdays, the shell-shocked couple arrive at the party bearing a heavy burden. They return from the hospital where Sinead’s oncologist has revealed that her cancer is not responding to treatment, and her time is running out. So, with great courage, Sinead tells the people who love her that she’s facing the end.
“Sinead’s had a sense of clarity, she knows she needs to tell everyone,” explains Rob Mallard, who plays the distraught husband and father. “Daniel is against it – it’s an unusual set-up given Bertie’s birthday party. But, at that moment, they feel that with such a limited time left, they don’t want to waste it on small talk about other things.”
EIGHTY NOT OUT!
Ken and partner Claudia had been planning to whisk the family off to Italy to celebrate the milestone double birthdays. But since Sinead’s terminal diagnosis, everything has changed, and the Barlow patriarch feels he can’t leave his son and daughter-in-law. What does that mean to Daniel, who’s often felt abandoned by his father?
“I think that he’s silently glad to have Ken’s support,” reveals Rob.
“Daniel has spent most of his teenage and young adult life living on his own and has had to look out for himself. Although he may not explicitly say it, knowing there are people there for him is a relief. Daniel finds it really hard to ask for help – he’s grateful for it, but he doesn’t know how to be thankful for it.”
Over at the Rovers, Ken’s party gets under way, and he’s thrilled when old pal Norris arrives to join the celebrations and another surprise well-wisher Skypes in (see opposite). But outside in the Rovers backyard, where Bertie’s party has kicked off, Daniel and Sinead arrive to break their news. It’s a horrible moment for everyone as they take in the enormity of what’s ahead, and realise Sinead won’t live to see her little boy grow up. For Daniel, the agony of his wife’s fate and his lonely future is almost too hard to bear.
“Daniel wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning if he looked at what’s going to happen in the long run,” admits Rob. “He plans things day-to-day due to Sinead’s deterioration, as he doesn’t know how she’s going to be feeling. Every day he wonders what time she has left, but never actually expects her to eventually pass away.”
However, the truth is Sinead’s life is going to end soon, leaving Daniel and Bertie to cope on their own. After the party, as the tragic couple lies in bed together, Sinead apologises to Daniel about leaving him to bring up their son on his own. How terrified is Daniel about being Bertie’s only parent?
FACING THE FUTURE…
“This whole time Daniel hasn’t prepared himself for life without Sinead and looking after Bertie,” admits Rob. “He’s going to feel alone. Daniel’s one of those people who keeps himself busy – he’s had Sinead’s illness and caring for her on his mind for so long, that he hasn’t actually looked after himself. The instant she dies, his attention will shift to Bertie, and all of that care and love he had for Sinead will go to his son.”
Will Daniel be able support Sinead in her final days and find the strength to be the dad Bertie so desperately needs?
“Daniel is finding it really hard to ask for help…” Daniel never actually expects Sinead to pass away…”