Emmerdale fans had a very strong reaction to Ryan Stocks‘ behaviour towards his sick son after last night’s episode (September 22).
The part owner of The Woolpack was revealed to be a biological father this week. His girlfriend Gail Loman met up with a mystery woman and revealed the couple had given up a child for adoption 13 years ago. The woman, Sophie, tracked Gail down for desperate reasons.
She told her how her son Oscar is suffering from leukaemia. He’s in immediate need of a bone marrow transplant to survive – and his biological parents are his best hope.
In the hospital, Gail agreed to be tested but it’s clear it took its toll on her. She emotionally confessed to Marlon about it all after he found her sobbing. And in last night’s episode, Gail sat Ryan down to break the news to him. But in a shock twist, it was revealed that he knew about their son.
Emmerdale: Ryan wants nothing to do with his son
However, he wanted nothing to do with him. “Please don’t get mad,” she said. “You said you wouldn’t, in my head you said you wouldn’t… Our son is in hospital. He’s really sick. He could die.”
She added: “His name’s Oscar, but in the hospital I wanted to call him Sparrow. But Oscar’s probably better. Please say something, anything. I can’t tell whether you’re angry or really sad or really scared. I’m scared too. I should’ve told you when they first contacted me.”
But Ryan’s shocking reaction left Gail horrified and viewers disgusted. He refused to even look at a picture of his son.
Ryan said: “We are not his parents. We made a mistake, you got pregnant and we gave him up.”
Gail desperately begged Ryan to reconsider, saying: “You’re mad at me but there is no need to be mad at him. This isn’t his fault. He needs us.”
But instead, Ryan kicked her out.
Viewers react
Emmerdale fans were left disgusted by his reaction – especially as Ryan himself was adopted.
One said: “She’ll not be a match but Ryan will, dunno what his problem is, like some men, there for the few mins of fun then doesn’t want to deal with the consequences.”
“What’s Ryan’s problem?” asked a second. A third said: “What an [bleep] Ryan is. Surely you’d help a child if you could regardless of the circumstances?”
Read more: Emmerdale fan theory: Samson to blackmail Craig?
Another said: “Ryan’s a bit of a [bleep] isn’t he? Imagine not wanting to help a sick child when you have the chance to.”
However, others were furious at the show for changing Ryan’s personality. One said: “Why is Ryan being nasty? Yet again the writers are sacrificing a character’s whole past personality in favour of a weak plotline.”
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
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