Mick collapses while refereeing
AS THE LANDLORD FACES PRESSURE FROM ALL SIDES, IS HE DANGEROUSLY ILL?
Mick Carter suffers a major health scare this week, when he suddenly collapses while refereeing a kids’ football match! Could he be in serious trouble?
The Queen Vic landlord has been having quite a stressful time of late, so perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s beginning to catch up with him. Mick’s week hardly gets off to the best of starts when he’s responsible for a worrying incident with his son, Ollie, and his wife Linda berates him for being so careless.
“Mick and Linda have both been on edge over the last month or two,” our Eastenders insider reminds us. “They
suspect that Ollie is autistic, but due to the long waiting times in order to get a specialist appointment, they haven’t yet been able to get the answers which could set their minds at rest. So it’s no wonder that Linda is feeling particularly panicky where their son is concerned. Poor Mick is just as pressured, though, even if he tries not to show it.”
But as it happens, it’s not just the uncertainty over Ollie that’s making Mick so anxious. There are financial worries at the Vic too, and although he tries to reassure his concerned wife they’ll be fine, privately Mick isn’t nearly so sure that everything will be okay.
“Mick might seem like the alpha male, protecting his family from the evils of the world, but the truth is, it’s all a bit of an act,” muses our sneak. “There some are things he has no control over, and that’s what causes stress – that feeling of helplessness. As there are several things simultaneously piling up on Mick’s plate, he really needs to reach out and ask for help. But Mick is too proud to want to show any weakness.”
In the middle of all this drama, Mick’s friend Mitch asks him to referee a local football match. Mick initially turns him down, as he’s distracted by Tina, who has problems of her own. Mick races to help her out at the Prince Albert – and even after he arrives back at the Vic, Mick continues to struggle. Despite this, he reluctantly agrees to Mitch’s request, when his pal tells him there is no one else who can step in.
On the day of the match, Mick prepares by going for a morning run. However, when Bex spots him in physical
“Mick seems like the alpha male – but it’s all an act…”
distress, she urges him not to overdo it. As it becomes clear that Mick is in pain, Stuart tries to intervene – but Mick is in no mood to accept help from his former best friend.
That afternoon, the match kicks off. It’s a bad-tempered game, which gets even more heated when a child is injured. As the opposition erupts in anger over referee Mick’s decision, he feels a sharp pain. And to everyone’s horror, he then falls to the ground!
Will poor Mick survive?