The following week on Home and Away in the UK, Roo leaves Summer Bay due to her failing health, while John goes through a horrific ordeal.
Next week is the tragic culmination of Stunning Organics’ terror campaign against Marilyn (Emily Symons), which has left two dearly loved residents struggling for their lives.
A bomb was the final parcel Marilyn received in the mail from a man who was assumed to be the strangely missing CEO after weeks of threats against her for publicly criticising the company.
It was John (Shane Withington) and Roo (Georgie Parker) who found themselves in the firing line as the device was activated with a one-hour countdown as the deadly parcel was unintentionally handed from resident to resident over the week.
After Marilyn received a final note mocking her about the contents of the box, Mali (Kyle Shilling) was left to track down John and Roo with the box piled into the back of a rental vehicle as they went to the neighbourhood dump.
Mali yelled at John and Roo to get out of the van after successfully persuading them to stop, just as the van exploded in a tremendous fireball, sending Mali flying.
Mali is out cold on the road as the fire rages when we return to the immediate aftermath the following week.
Mali eventually awakens with a deafening ringing in his ears and rushes to see how John and Roo are doing. Thankfully, both were able to quickly exit the van, but they were both injured by the explosion.
Roo is visible in severe pain as she rests on her back on the grass nearby, afraid to move a muscle.
Mali turns around the opposite side of the van and spots a confused John slumped on the pavement. He immediately calls 911.
When Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) and Rose (Kirsty Marillier) arrive on the scene, they find the fire out and are horrified by the devastation they see.
While Jennifer Rani’s character, paramedic Carla, is tending to John’s abdominal pain, Roo is already being placed into an ambulance, and John is more concerned about Roo’s welfare.
Mali informs Rose about the device after Cash and Rose have checked on them both, and Cash has already secured the area as a crime scene.
The scene is given to Frances (Ebony Nave), a forensics officer, who quickly discovers what appears to be a detonator.
Frances informs Cash that the contraption was obviously home-made, and whomever designed it intended to do the most harm possible.
Mali discovers that he has a perforated eardrum after learning that all three victims have been transported to Northern Districts Hospital. Mali had been experiencing dizzy episodes ever since the explosion.
Bree (Juliet Godwin) says that Mali will need to avoid the water for a few weeks, despite the fact that it’s nothing serious. which will be challenging for the local surf instructor in Summer Bay!
Having taken the brunt of the blast, Roo’s diagnosis is more complicated. When Roo is brought into the ED, she panics when she learns she can’t feel her legs anymore. She has a tiny neck disc fracture, which will need to be repaired through specialised surgery, according to a CT scan.
Arriving at the hospital, Marilyn and Irene (Lynne McGranger) are happy to meet John and express their regret that she wasn’t the one to take care of him.
Marilyn is trying her best to support Roo while dealing with her guilt until Roo suddenly starts to worsen. Nurse Jamie (Jazz Laker) comes to help as the machines malfunction as Roo begins to shake and asks for her dad.
When Bree answers the emergency call, she notices that Roo’s heart rate has slowed down and her blood pressure is plummeting.
Roo is obviously in shock, and her heart is working hard to circulate blood throughout her body. Soon after, Roo begins to lose consciousness before having a heart attack.
After some time, Bree manages to stabilise Roo, but she is still unconscious. Bree informs an upset Marilyn that Roo is being ventilated. When Marilyn bids her buddy a heartbreaking farewell when she must be quickly taken to the city for surgery, she swears to pursue justice.
Georgie Parker, who took a two-month vacation from filming earlier this year to perform in a Sydney theatre production, is temporarily leaving the show with this episode.
John, who underwent surgery for abdominal internal bleeding, appears to be in the clear with no lasting effects.
Later on in the week, John complains of feeling lightheaded while Irene is visiting him in the hospital. Bree is called despite Irene’s confidence that it is likely typical following surgery.
John is saying his thanks to Irene for remaining with him when all of a sudden, he grips his chest in pain and falls back onto the bed.
Fortunately, Bree shows there just in time as a terrified John wonders if he’s suffering a heart attack. It wouldn’t be the first time; in fact, John experienced one in 2010.
Bree doesn’t believe it, but John is seriously tachycardic with a heart rate of 200 bpm. She adds that in order to calibrate John’s heart and restore its regular rhythm, she will need to provide some medicine.
John is willing to accept any form of treatment at the time, despite Bree’s warnings that the medicine will make him feel as though his heart is stopped since it is so intense.
Bree administers the medicine while Irene holds John’s hand, and as soon as it takes effect, John shouts out in terror.
Despite not being mentioned in the episode, the substance is probably adenosine, which inhibits the AV node and temporarily causes the heart to halt. Bree isn’t exaggerating when she claims the experience is severe; among patients, a sense of impending doom or the approaching arrival of death is the most noteworthy adverse effect.
Bree maintains a tight check on the ECG as John writhes in pain during these tense moments. Bree understands she must wait it out when John eventually passes out.
A flash of apprehension crosses Bree’s face as the seconds pass and a horrified Irene yells out John’s name.
Will John be able to survive?
