Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) is struggling in upcoming Emmerdale episodes as he deals with the tragic loss of his mum, Leyla (Roxy Shahidi)
Leyla lost her life in the limo crash that claimed multiple victims and devastated the village. Bleeding from a a wound to her abdomen from the initial crash, with Kerry (Laura Norton)’s help she did manage to escape from the limo before it sunk through the ice, but died soon afterwards.
Heartbreakingly, Jacob was on shift at the hospital when the casualties from the accident were brought in and he couldn’t cope with the news that she was dead, even making a desperate attempt to resuscitate her.
Going forward, as well as knowing he wasn’t able to help her, what makes Jacob’s grief worse is the knowledge that, in their final few meetings, he was very offhand with his mum.
He’d started a new relationship with Sarah Dingle (Katie Hill), something which Leyla didn’t exactly approve of given that Sarah has some serious health problems.
When she was a child, she was diagnosed with Fanconi anaemia (FA), a rare, inherited bone marrow failure syndrome, which increases the risk of cancer and could mean she has a shorter than average life expectancy.
Leyla wanted Jacob to focus on his medical career rather than embark on another ill-fated relationship with someone who might possibly get ill.
This meant that things between Jacob and his mum were quite difficult in what turned out to be her final days, as Jacob resisted her attempts to meddle in his life.
What he and others didn’t really pick up on in that time was that Leyla was incredibly lonely.
Since her marriage to Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) broke down she hasn’t had a serious relationship and it seemed like nobody had any time for her. Even her efforts to get people to go for lunch with her often ended in rejection.
So Jacob is suffering, but his way of dealing with his grief is to try to avoid thinking about it by focusing on his work. It’s not a great approach and, before long, he has a panic attack at work as he becomes overwhelmed.
Another coping strategy is drinking, but when he gets drunk with his friend Rich (Joshua John) at the Hide, Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) are concerned about him – and even Rich realises that Jacob is just trying to blot out his pain.
Sarah arrives to try to calm him down, but Jacob rejects her help and abruptly tells her to stay away from him.
Sarah is upset by his rejection.
She’s worried for Jacob and she’s worried for herself, because there’s the possibility that she might be pregnant and she has no idea how she’s going to cope if it’s confirmed – and how Jacob will react, given the state he’s currently in.
