Jacob is astounded by two life-changing secrets about Sarah in Emmerdale

Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) is left shocked after Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill) drops two shocking bombshells following a hospital visit in this week’s Emmerdale.

Poor Sarah has been in poor health since birth, after being diagnosed with the rare blood disorder Fanconi Anemia as child.

In 2017, Sarah was also diagnosed with throat cancer, undergoing successful treatment in Prague and back in the UK. A year later, she had a heart transplant after suffering heart failure (a rare side-effect of the chemotherapy), adding to the list of terrible ailments she’s struggled with throughout her life.

Sarah has been doing relatively well since then, although her condition means that she faces a much shorter life span than most people. As a result, she’s been desperate to have a child before it’s too late.

This led to her pursuing IVF as a means to get pregnant – in spite of Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) and grandma Charity Dingle’s (Emma Atkins) fears that she’s setting herself up for a fall… or worse.

That fall comes this week, as Sarah is hit with even more devastating news- leaving Jacob shocked as she shares what she’s learned.

Still set on IVF, Sarah attends a hospital appointment alone to get the results of her recent biopsy.

She’s horrified when the consultant confirms her worst fears – telling her that she has the early stages of cervical cancer.

Sarah struggles to comprehend what she’s hearing, but is relieved to learn that she may still be able to get pregnant, in spite of the diagnosis.

Her head swimming at the news, Sarah leaves the consultant’s office. Outside the room, she bumps into Jacob, there on a shift.

Noticing her upset, Jacob offers her support – and she soon crumbles, telling him that she’s been diagnosed with cancer.

When she tells him that they found the cancer because she’s hoping to have a baby, Jacob’s cold reaction leaves her shocked and disappointed.

He tells her that she’s selfish for wanting a baby, explaining what an impact losing a mother can have on any child. Well, having recently lost his own mum, he would know.

He’s shocked to realise that he’s the only one who knows about Sarah’s cancer and the IVF.

But what will he do?

Actor Katie Hill, who plays Sarah, has revealed Sarah’s reasons for pursuing IVF, saying: ‘She’s lonely, she doesn’t feel like she has much of a purpose right now and so she’s set on the idea of having a baby.

‘If she has it now, if she was to die in 20 years her mindset is that well at least the kid would have grown up with it, and she’d have had those years with the child.’

Of Manpreet and Charity’s tepid reaction to her IVF quest, Sarah said: ‘She’s set on the fact that she wants to do it, she’s not paying attention. She’s doing research and holding onto the fact that a handful of people have been able to do it and so she’s not listening to anyone who’s telling her what to do.’

But with the cancer diagnosis comes more fears for her already fragile health.

‘She’s trying to stay positive, she thinks everything is gonna work out. When Sarah gets told about the cancer diagnosis her head is like, ‘okay, but am I gonna be able to have a baby still?’’ Katie said.

She continued: ‘She’s obviously dealt with cancer growing up, she’s been through so much she’s quite good at handling stuff like that as much as it hurts to hear. She takes the route of I’m gonna focus on having this baby, the IVF, so that’s where she’s at with her mental state. I just want to have this baby and get the cancer out the way.’

Sarah’s decision to pursue IVF comes after her failed romance with newcomer Kammy Hadiq (Shebz Miah) which saw him and Jacob at loggerheads over her attention.

Their relationship may not have lasted, but it did leave Sarah more certain than ever of what she wants out of life.

‘For a while she was trying to find her purpose. Girls her age have boyfriends, that’s what they do they get in relationships. Then she had the whole situation with Kammy and Jacob and she went you know what, I don’t need boys, then decided a baby was the right choice. So she’s had a busy few months,’ Katie revealed.

But that’s not to say she’s ruling out a potential reunion with Jacob.

‘I think the way it ended, Sarah didn’t want it to end so those feelings haven’t been cut off straight away. They went through so much together when he was grieving his mum,’ Katie said.

‘I think the door, in my view, is hopefully still open to explore something in the future together and I think they need to communicate better. It would be nice if they could come back together.’

Will Jacob put aside his disapproval of her plans to stand by Sarah in her time of need?