He's had his fair share of trials and tribulations over the years but Marlon Dingle is facing one of his biggest yet after he suffered a stroke in the latest Emmerdale scenes.
The chef was secretly planning to propose to girlfriend Rhona Goskirk, completely unaware that she was planning on popping the question to him as she organised a surprise birthday party at The Woolpack.
The party surprise, however, was ruined by Rhona's mother Mary who told him that he needed to go out for his birthday and not whisk Rhona away for a night as he excitedly planned his proposal.
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There was soon though a bit of doubt on Marlon's part when a comment from Mary left him worrying that Rhona would be his fifth wife but after a chat with best mate Paddy Kirk and former wife Laurel Thoma, Marlon bounded over to the pub ready to ask Rhona to marry him.
But as he did, Rhona returned the favour and showed him a cake with an inscription which read: "Will you marry me?" and in the end the pair decided to ask each other the big question at the same time in adorable scenes.
The excitement, however, soon turned to horror when a giddy Marlon rushed home to pick up Rhoan's engagement ring which he accidentally left back at their home.
As he rustled around for the sparkler, Marlon's frightening health battle began when he realised something was wrong as his vision became blurred, before he looked in the mirror and realised his face had drooped on one side and he was unable to speak despite desperately running through his thoughts in his own head.
He was then found collapsed on the floor by his terrified young daughter April before he was rushed to the hospital where nurses confirmed he suffered a stroke and needed to undergo emergency surgery to remove the blood clot on the left side of his brain.
Emmerdale has already explained that the storyline will follow Marlon's perspective which viewers witnessed last night as Marlon could be heard talking to himself but unable to get the words out and at the end of the soap he desperately wanted to tell Rhona not to leave him.
And the emotional scenes left Emmerdale fans in tears with others admitting they were 'not prepared for the powerful performance from Mark Charnock, who has spent 25 years playing the loveable character.
@LittleMissH_13 tweeted: "I wasn’t prepared for that, I can’t watch. Why can’t they just let Marlon be happy for once. My heart goes out to anyone who’s either experienced a stroke or been affected by it. Outstanding acting by @markcharnock #Emmerdale #Marlon."
"How have I missed spoilers for Marlon having a stroke?! I’m in tears #emmerdale," @bexycharlotte said.
@FrancescaPaige1 wrote: " What a emotional @emmerdale what a episode but such an important storyline. Superb acting @markcharnock #emmerdale #Marlon #stroke."
"Such a harrowing scene when you could hear what Marlon was thinking in the middle of having the stroke #Emmerdale awards coming your way @markcharnock and it’s only Mondays episode @emmerdale," @mikepriestley13 shared.
There was also many people sharing their own stories of witnessing family members and loved ones suffering a stroke.
Mark, 53, has said the ITV soap has worked with 'amazing people' on the storyline. He said: "Emmerdale has worked with some amazing people on this storyline, including the Stroke Association, clinicians and survivors, people who have actually been through it."
The episode marked a long-running story which will explore the journey of the family after a life-changing stroke. In a video to help identify the symptoms of a stroke, the Marlon actor said: "In tonight’s episode we saw Marlon have a stroke.
"Now strokes can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time and they happen every five minutes in the UK. 50% of survivors are dependant on others for their every day needs and sadly one in seven strokes are fatal.
"Hopefully there is some really helpful information we can take from Marlon’s story, the most important is the acronym F.A.S.T, we can use this to identify symptoms of a stroke in you or someone else."
