Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) has revealed more about his health problems in Emmerdale, and has now lured Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) and his oblivious Uncle into his risky plan.
Yesterday, we learnt from Doctor Crowley that Joe is living with chronic kidney disease. The item he’s been carrying in his suitcase is a dialysis machine, which assists in managing Joe’s symptoms.
As he had his next round of treatment, Joe spoke to Crowley about their organ donation plan. It was then confirmed they were responsible for spiking Noah Dingle (Jack Downham) in February, as Joe thought getting him on the operating table before even knowing if he’d be a match was the best option.
Disagreeing with Crowley’s idea of going to Dubai to find a donor, Joe then said he has another blood relative in mind – but whether the resident actually agrees to the donation wasn’t really an issue for him.
So, Joe knew that he needed to check if his new donor had the potential to be a match before the operation, but was also aware he had to do it on the sly, knowing said person would probably say no to his request.
In tonight’s episode, he headed to the Pavilion and bumped into Manpreet, who just so happened to be waiting for her blackmailer after they demanded £5k.
Manpreet initially thought that Joe was the person messaging her. Once he denied the claim, Joe discovered Manpreet’s predicament and decided to help her out when the blackmailer wanted even more money.
The next day, they met with the man and seemingly dealt with Manpreet’s nightmare.
Back at Dale Head, Manpreet decided to return the favour and try and help Joe when she sensed that he was experiencing a problem of his own. He explained that not too long ago, he learnt that his granddad Frank Tate lived with AAT deficiency.
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is diagnosed when someone lives with lower effective concentrations of AAT in their blood. AAT itself is an inhibitor that is transported to the lungs and produced in the liver. It means someone with the diagnosis is at risk of developing conditions such as COPD or liver problems, or issues with their kidneys.
As a result of inheriting it from Frank, Joe told Manpreet that he hopes his health will improve once he has an organ donation.
The person he wants to take part in the operation is Caleb Miligan (William Ash), who is Joe’s uncle and Frank’s son. However, because Joe knows that Caleb won’t jump at the chance of helping him, he wants to go about the process a more unethical and definitely illegal way.
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Joe asked Manpreet to get him a vial of Caleb’s blood, that he can then privately send off for testing to see if he’s a match. Manpreet immediately regretted letting Joe help her out once the words left his mouth, but she knew that if she said no, he’d use her situation to his advantage.
If Manpreet doesn’t help Joe, he’ll more than likely attempt to find out the answers regarding Caleb’s health his own way.
Just how much danger is he in?
