Sinead Tinker’s battle with cancer comes to a heartbreaking end in next week’s Coronation Street as she says her final farewells to her family before quietly passing away with Daniel and Bertie by her side.
Sinead’s family know she only has a short time left and, determined to make the most of the time they have got together, Kirk, Beth and Craig decide to bring Christmas forward a few months especially for Sinead.
But when Daniel catches Sinead’s loved ones in their festive jumpers, he is fuming and tells them she’s not well enough to be celebrating.
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However, little does Daniel know Sinead has seen what is going on and thinks celebrating Christmas early is a brilliant idea and soon they’re all getting into the festive spirit and sitting down to a turkey dinner.
But while Sinead is determined to enjoy every moment she has left, Daniel is overprotective of his wife and it causes friction between the couple… leading to Daniel storming out and breaking down in the ginnel.
Sinead reasures everyone that Daniel will come back when he has calmed down, but while they’re all wondering where he has got to, Bethany has found a broken Daniel all alone and she offers him a shoulder to cry on.
But as the pair get closer, Ken sees them together and angrily shouts at Daniel to get home to his dying wife, leaving a mortified Bethany to race off in tears.
While Bethany is distraught at her actions, Sinead is back at the flat and has found Bethany’s notebook containing the story she wrote about her love for Daniel.
Sinead is speechless as she reads the heart-felt words from Bethany and when Daniel finally comes home she confronts him about how Bethany is clearly in love with him.
Daniel is quick to play Bethany’s words down, desperate to keep what just happened with Bethany in the ginnel a secret. But Sinead is convinced that he is lying and asks him to be honest with her.
As news of Daniel and Bethany’s ‘moment’ gets out, Craig is fuming with his friend and tells Bethany that he is disgusted with her, while Beth races to Sinead’s side to check she is okay.
But Daniel can’t cope with everything that is going on, and later Adam finds him drunk in the ginnel and clearly in self destruct mode.
As Adam tries to get through to Daniel, Sinead is worried when she wakes the next day and Daniel isn’t at the flat. But she’s determined to put Bertie first in her last few moments Beth helps Sinead record messages for her son on Daniel’s laptop.
Eventually Daniel comes home to face the music and he is surprised that is seems Sinead has forgiven him… clearly too close to the end to fight with her husband.
As Sinead and Daniel share an emotional moment, Sinead tells him to stop punishing himself and to make sure he is someone she can trust if he is going to be looking after Bertie once she’s gone.
The day progresses and Sinead makes plans for her funeral with Billy, knowing her time to go is near.
Dr Gaddas calls in and checks how Sinead is, revealing that it is too late to move her to a hospice, leaving Sinead in no doubt that it is time to start saying her goodbyes.
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As Sinead wakes to find her family gathered around her bedside, she is grateful as she listens to them all bickering about day-to-day life. And once they’re gone, she prepares herself for the hardest goodbyes of them all… Daniel and Bertie.
Eventually Sinead passes away peacefully with her husband and her son on the bed with her, and as she slips away Daniel cries silent tears, knowing that he and Bertie are going to have to try and find a way to live without Sinead by their sides.
Meanwhile, the Tinkers and the Barlows wait nervously in The Rovers for news from Daniel, and eventually the call they have all been dreading arrives.
Daniel phones Beth and tells her that Sinead has died, meaning Coronation Street will never quite be the same again.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV.
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