Emmerdale spoilers: Broken Dawn haunted by past tragedies as she takes blame for baby Evan’s cancer

Dawn and Billy Fletcher (Olivia Bromley and Jay Kontzle) are currently enduring every parent’s worst nightmare in Emmerdale as they deal with their baby son Evan’s treatment for leukaemia.

The distraught parents have had to stand by helplessly as Evan – who was born at Christmas – undergoes chemotherapy and other treatments.

Dawn has been practically living at the hospital, with Billy doing his best to be there to support her while also looking after the couple’s other children Clemmie (Mabel Addison) and Lucas (Noah Ryan Aspinall) back at Home Farm.

We’ve seen Dawn in the depths of despair because at times she was unable to feed Evan or comfort him because of the treatment he’s having, while coping with lack of sleep and not being able to see Clemmie and Lucas.

They aren’t on the same page

Although previously solid as a couple, all of this is naturally taking its toll on Dawn and Billy as they’re both overwhelmed by the situation. In upcoming episodes Billy feels that even though he’s doing his best, it’s not enough for Dawn. He feels useless and doesn’t know how to support her.

Meanwhile Dawn is struggling with thoughts that she might be to blame for Evan’s condition. Dawn is a former drug addict and sex worker, who was addicted to drugs at the time of the birth of her son Lucas, who was taken into care.

Dawn has always been ashamed of her former life and lives in fear that she’ll be judged because of it.

When she and Billy first brought Evan to hospital with unexplained bruises, she worried that social services might be called because she could be suspected of being an unfit mother as she was when Lucas was a baby.

So it’s understandable that, while looking for an explanation for Evan’s illness, she starts thinking about her own past and all the drugs she put into her body and wonders if it could have been a factor in her baby’s illness.

While it’s very unlikely that Evan is sick because of anything she did, Dawn feels guilty that she couldn’t keep him safe.

Finally her concerned dad, Will (Dean Andrews), persuades her to go home and talk to Billy – knowing that their best chance of getting through this whole ordeal is if they stay united as a couple.