Dawn Taylor spirals out of control as the doctors make decision about ill baby Evan in Emmerdale
DAWN Taylor spirals out of control as doctors make a decision about ill baby Evan in Emmerdale.
The character – played by Olivia Bromley – was left devastated alongside husband Billy earlier this year when their baby boy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
It has meant baby Evan has remained in hospital for weeks, while Dawn and Billy have to be careful about how they interact with their other two children so that they don’t transfer any germs to Evan.
The strain of the situation has started to take its toll on both of them, and in upcoming Emmerdale scenes, Dawn starts to spiral out of control.
Despite being overjoyed to learn from the doctors that they can take Evan home, the reality of doing so soon sets in for Dawn.
She is hit with paranoia at the thought of the kids seeing their baby brother, and Billy worries about her overprotectiveness.
A heartfelt word about Dawn’s natural ability as a mother helps bring estranged mum Rose closer to her daughter, and they set about building the fort together.
Is this the turning point for Dawn? Or will she spiral further?
Emmerdale Producer, Laura Shaw, previously said of the storyline: “We’ve seen these two go through a whole heap of challenges in their relationship.
“They’ve finally got married, they survived Meena, Dawn got pregnant, they had baby Evan and it’s been fairly rosy for these two over the past few months.
“We’re going to see their world totally rocked when, almost out of nowhere, Evan is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
“ALL is one of the most common childhood leukaemias. I think there’s 650 children and young adults diagnosed with that every year in the UK.”
She continued: “What we really wanted to show with this story is what a stress and strain a long-term illness like this can put on a family.
“What we’ll see is how the roles of Dawn and Billy are changed almost overnight and out of nowhere. We’ll see how Lucas and Clemmie are affected and the stress that it puts on those sibling dynamics.
“We’ll see how this affects Billy and Dawn’s relationship, the wider family in Kim and Will, and all of their friends.
“There’s also the financial pressure that looking after a child long-term like that can put on a whole family. That’s going to be a big story for us going forward.”
What is Acute Myeloid Leukaemia?
ACUTE myeloid leukaemia is a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system's white blood cells.
The causes of the disease are not well understood and it usually cannot be prevented. Previous chemotherapy, exposure to radiation or smoking could raise the risk.
It is a rare type of cancer and affects around 3,100 people each year in the UK, and 2,700 people die from it annually.
AML is an aggressive form of cancer and often needs urgent treatment with chemotherapy and possibly a bone marrow transplant.
On average only about a third of patients survive for one year or more after being diagnosed.
Symptoms of the disease include:
- Paleness
- Concerning tiredness or weakness
- Often feeling breathless for no reason
- Getting regular infections
- Unexplained weight loss
- Unexplained bleeding and/or bruising
Source: NHS
Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.