As we approach the week of the 2023 season finale on Home and Away in the UK, Mackenzie is taken back to the hospital after losing consciousness, and Alf worries about the Surf Club’s future.
In recent episodes, Emily Weir’s character Mackenzie was so determined to leave the hospital after having a heart attack that she defied medical advice and decided to go home.
On the ward, Mac was always on edge, anxiously monitoring her vital signs and holding the call button in case something went wrong again.
Mac was reassured by former paramedic Xander (Luke Van Os) that she should not be afraid, but when he revealed that he couldn’t unwind after his own operation until he came home, it cemented in her mind that the farmhouse was the right place for her to be.
Though he couldn’t stop her in the end, Mac’s plan to discharge herself was strongly opposed by cardiac surgeon Levi (Tristan Gorey), who pointed out that she hadn’t yet begun her rehabilitation.
Levi pulled Xander aside, gave him a hard time for accidentally giving Mac the idea, and threatened to hold him alone if something happened to her.
Despite her expectations, Mac’s return home did not provide the miraculous relief from her anxiety. Instead, she broke down in front of her flatmate Tane (Ethan Browne), questioning if she would have to live a lifetime waiting for it to happen again.
When Mac looked up on the internet, she discovered that 1 in 5 patients with spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) would experience another episode, which did not soothe her worries.
Mac appeared to be adding to that number as the week was coming to an end, clutching her chest and pleading with Tane to summon an ambulance before crumbling to the ground.
Next week, as the ambulance pulls up to the farmhouse, Rebecca Attanasio’s character, paramedic Wiley, checks on Mac and tells her everything is fine. It appears that Mac was merely experiencing a panic episode.
Wiley advises Mac to return to the hospital for blood testing given her recent history, but Mac reassures the ambos that she is well and would visit the ED if her symptoms recur. Reassured that she had overreacted, Mac takes a nap.
After speaking with Mali (Kyle Shilling), Tane and Mali decide that Mac would be better off in the hospital, but they also understand that they can’t make her stay. Could Xander perhaps reason with her?
Mali informs Xander of what’s transpired and expresses his concern about Mac, who looks to be deep sleeping.
When Xander enters to speak with Mac, he is shocked to discover that she is unconscious after trying in vain to wake her.
Chest compressions are initiated promptly by Xander while Mali makes another ambulance call.
When Mac is taken back into the care of Bree (Juliet Godwin) and Dana (Ally Harris) at the hospital, where it is discovered that she has a weak, tachycardic heart beat, Xander goes with the paramedics.
Now that his work in Yabbie Creek was finished, Levi was going to return to the city, but he’s furious as he shoves Xander aside to tend to Mac.
He yells at Xander, “This is precisely why she should have stayed in the hospital!”
Based on first observations, Levi surmises that Mac may have a blood clot and continues to criticise Xander for ‘allowing’ her discharge.
Levi is compelled to operate on Mac a second time in order to save her life after the CT scans support his assumptions.
As they stand with Tane at the hospital in vigil, waiting for word on Mac, Xander and Mali are overcome with guilt.
Does she have the strength to survive?
In other parts of Summer Bay, Alf (Ray Meagher) finds that Simon Henderson is keeping his word, which causes alarm within the surf club.
Alf was warned by the Yabbie Creek real estate agent, who also serves as the club’s primary sponsor, that there would be repercussions for his attempt to overthrow the executive committee. John (Shane Withington) was reinstated as the surf club manager, along with his teaching responsibilities.
John resigned from his position as teacher after Simon took up his son Banjo’s (Michael Cameron) complaint, which resulted in a teaching ban.
After a cranky John called Banjo “man bun,” Banjo became enraged. Although Banjo accepted John’s apology, Simon refused to back down in the hopes of gaining his son’s favour.
Next week, Alf is noticeably anxious as he begins to receive and make a number of calls from committee members, but he keeps his cards close to the vest when Roo (Georgie Parker) and John both enquire as to what’s going on.
Eventually, Alf tells Roo that he has heard from the committee three times in the last week, and none of them have provided a detailed reason for their departure.
Both Roo and Alf scent a rat, even though Alf’s choice to ignore them might have had some influence.
Indeed, upon more investigation, Roo finds that Simon has been stirring things up and whispering in people’s ears.
Considering that Simon tends to harbour resentment, Alf is not shocked to hear it. But as he soberingly notes, there might not be a surf club at all soon if any more committee members depart!
Are Roo and Alf going to be able to convince the others to stay with them?
