Sarah Sugden in Emmerdale hasn’t had an easy life since her birth on the soap opera in 2005. Stricken with all manner of health issues since childhood, poor Sarah has suffered a rare form of anemia, throat cancer and heart failure.

Her life-limiting condition has really hit home recently after being told she wasn’t pregnant. But now she is hell-bent on starting a family, despite Manpreet’s advice otherwise.

Sarah has recently ended things with Jacob and been dumped by Kammy, so doesn’t have a man in her life. And she’s decided that’s just how she wants it – to be a mum on her terms.

But with her health battles, there are serious hurdles ahead. So what exactly is wrong with her? Read on for a look at the troubled life and times of Sarah Sugden.
It wasn’t exactly happy families for this lot (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Who are the parents of Sarah Sugden in Emmerdale?

Sarah Sugden is the daughter of Debbie Dingle and Andy Sugden. After Debbie discovered that she had fallen pregnant aged only fifteen, she tried to hide the news and leave the baby at the hospital at birth.

However, her plans fell apart when she wound up giving birth in a shed – naming the child Sarah Charity after her grandparents, uh, Sarah and Charity.
Sarah faced a health battle early on in her life (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Sarah’s life-limiting condition – Fanconi anemia

In 2011, Sarah sparked worry in her family when they noticed that she was covered in bruises. Debbie took Sarah to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a rare form of Fanconi anemia. This is a complex medical condition. It could lead to bone marrow failure, physical abnormalities and organ defects. Sarah is also at an increased risk of certain types of cancer.

The doctors revealed that Sarah would need a bone marrow transplant to save her life. In spite of Debbie and Andy’s best efforts, neither could find a donor among their family – and it was decided that they would have a ‘saviour sibling’ to save her life.

In October 2012, Debbie gave birth to Sarah’s brother Jack  – and just in the nick of time too, as Sarah was now developing leukaemia. After the following bone marrow operation, Sarah was released from hospital where she reunited with her family at home.

Emmerdale: Sarah diagnosed with throat cancer

In 2017, Sarah returned to the village from France, where she had been living with her mum and brother. During this time, she had been diagnosed with throat cancer – which required an expensive treatment not available via the NHS.

Her family set up a crowdfunding page for Sarah, which received an anonymous donation of £20,000. Sarah learned that this had actually come from Faith Dingle – her long-lost great-grandmother.

Faith accompanied Sarah to Prague where she underwent treatment for the cancer – as Debbie was on bail at the time, and unable to leave the country.

Once returned, she underwent an operation in England which was also successful.
Most her life has been spent in and out of hospital (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Heart failure

In June 2018, Sarah collapsed after lashing out at her mother for her part in the acid attack upon Ross Barton. After being caught joy-riding and then grassing her mother up to the police for the acid attack, Sarah abruptly collapsed, and was taken to hospital.

There, doctors revealed that she was suffering from heart failure as a rare side-effect of the chemotherapy. She was informed that she would need a heart transplant, and her condition worsened when she picked up a virus while at the hospital.

By October, a suitable donor had been found for Sarah’s heart transplant. In spite of complications, the doctors managed to stabilise Sarah’s new heart, and she returned home to her family in December.

Debbie leaves Sarah in Emmerdale

The next year, Sarah learned that her mother planned to leave the village to go to Scotland, where she had inherited a garage from Lisa Dingle.

Sarah, however, opted to stay, with Charity Dingle and her then-fiancée Vanessa Woodfield moving into Jacobs Fold to look after her.
Sarah’s rebellion could be life-threatening (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Danny Harrington

Following her mother’s exit, Sarah grew more rebellious and began acting out – entering into a relationship with the dangerous Danny Harrington.

Danny, it quickly became clear, was a bad influence on Sarah. He plied her with pills and alcohol in spite of her precarious health.

This led to her cousin Noah suffering an overdose when he stole the pills she had been holding. Although Noah recovered, Danny continued to apply pressure – attempting to get her to sell drugs on his behalf.

Feeling betrayed, Sarah planted the drugs in Danny’s pocket and reported him to the police. She soon realised how stupid she had been and started to take her decisions more seriously.
Faith and Sarah were super-close (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Sarah makes a mistake with alcohol despite being unable to drink

Sarah struggled when Faith died in 2022. She had always thought her great-gran would be there for her in her final days, knowing she had a life-limiting condition.

Recently, it’s become clear Sarah’s at a loss over what to do with her life. She has become an apprentice mechanic, working for grandad Cain Dingle. But overall, it’s clear she feels there’s no fun for her.

At Mandy and Paddy’s wedding she tried to sneak a few drinks. But Charity caught her and told her no more than one on her medication.

However, she then got blind drunk. Charity was furious to find her granddaughter the next day hungover having slept in a car.

Clearly not learning her lesson, Sarah also got very drunk when Jacob rejected her and she ended up in hospital. Jacob gave her a lecture about taking care of herself and it seemed to go in.
Vanessa urges Sarah to discuss her IVF plans with Charity (Credit: ITV)

Sarah and her baby struggles in Emmerdale

After Jacob ended things, Sarah was distraught. At this point she thought she was pregnant with his baby. However a second test at the doctors revealed she had had a false positive, something else that left Sarah upset.

Things got brighter when cheeky chappy Kammy soon turned up and charmed her. However then Jacob decided he wanted her back. Kammy and Jacob went head to head in a motorbike race for Sarah’s heart – but she was fuming at their childishness.

After talking things through with Jacob, Sarah finally put her wounds to bed and decided to move on with Kammy. But he dumped her as he felt like he would always be second best!

So now, without a man in her life, Sarah has decided a baby is what she wants. She’s confided in Vanessa who is worried, and also talked to doctor Manpreet. The GP tried to let her down gently telling her her chances are pretty slim, if at all even possible, but Sarah’s found some women on the internet with her condition and kids.

Refusing to accept reality, Sarah pushes ahead with calls to IVF clinics to find out if they will help her. But Charity doesn’t know the truth yet – and when she does, we’re not sure she’ll react all that well!