There’s horror ahead in Emmerdale for Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) and Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) when an act of kindness turns into a blood bath.
Paddy’s love for animals and need to help them almost costs him his life. He spots a sheep caught in the fence at Celia’s (Jaye Griffiths) farm and rushes to free the stricken creature without a second thought, and certainly not expecting the encounter to end in him needing life-saving surgery.
As he frees the woolly beast, an aggressive dog approaches.
As the angry K9 bares his teeth, Paddy freezes in terror, giving the animal the opportunity to pounce on the defenceless vet.
The dog tears into him like he’s a chicken drumstick, but Bear comes to the rescue and saves Paddy from the literal jaws of death.
Paddy is rushed to hospital with severe injuries and taken straight into surgery. Mandy (Lisa Riley) tries to comfort a traumatised Bear as they wait anxiously for news.
When they’re eventually allowed to see Paddy, instead of showing concern and worry, Bear slaps Paddy with another attack, this time verbal, but it’s as vicious as the dog who mauled him. He character-assassinates Paddy before Mandy can stop him.
‘So they are cruel to each other, but Bear, as he’s in hospital, Bear calls him a pansy and calls him, you know, he’s not a man’, star Dominic Brunt shared.
‘He says the worst things that a father can say to a son, really, and at the very worst time, and at his most vulnerable, and he’s injured, and he wants to be looked after. But that’s the thing about the miscommunication as well, because Bear is venting, he doesn’t mean that, he’s just saying it. He doesn’t know what to say. He’s worried about his son.
‘He sees him there, and he wants it to go away. He wants everything to be right. And I think his way of saying it, his inarticulate way, is by saying, “get out of bed, you pansy!”.’
His words cut Paddy deep, and he’s stirred into action by what his dad says – which include standing up for himself and confronting the dog owner.
Once back home and well enough, Paddy grabs his vets’ bolt gun and heads off to Celia’s farm to confront her about her dog. The exchange goes awfully for Paddy, who returns home and rips Bear a new one for his dreadful advice.
Feeling rageful, Paddy snaps over Bear’s treatment of him and tells him he wants him gone. Is that it for Paddy and Bear?
