Unlikely Emmerdale resident pushes Cain to make a life-changing decision

The following article contains spoilers from the episode of Emmerdale dated April 29. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.

Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) made a huge decision about his cancer operation in Emmerdale today – but it came after a conversation with someone very surprising.

The beloved character was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year, and was set to have his surgery a few weeks ago. However, after Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) hit Cain with his car and put him in hospital, the operation was postponed.

While Cain has been waiting, partner Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb) was released from prison. Adjusting to life back in the village has been difficult for her, as Moira has been forced to get used to her family now living at Wishing Well with the rest of the Dingles, and no longer having Butler’s Farm.

Reconnecting with Cain has also been a challenge for Moira, as he’s been worrying about how his operation will impact their relationship. It’s possible Cain won’t be able to have sex after, and he’s convinced himself Moira won’t love him as much if they can’t be intimate.

In today’s instalment, Moira arrived at the pub to speak with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) about the current issues she’s having with Cain. While this happened, Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) headed to Wishing Well in an attempt to get his best mate to open up, but it was particularly hard to start a conversation as Cain was busy smashing up a chair.

Cain eventually told Liam about his fears regarding the operation, and how he believed that Moira would eventually leave him if she was in a sexless marriage. Liam tried to help, but Cain hates talking about his feelings – let alone ones about intimacy issues – which meant they really didn’t make a lot of progress.

Liam returned to the pub and told Moira and Chas that Cain has now decided to not have his operation.

When Moira returned home, she began arguing with Cain about his decision, and how sex isn’t the be all and end all to their relationship. Cain didn’t believe her though, and sunk to a new low by reminding Moira that she had an affair with his son Nate because she felt neglected by him.

A while later, Cain was seen outside the Dingle home beside Zak’s grave. Wandering up the path was Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell), who was taking baby Leyla for a walk in her pram.

The conversation the two men had ultimately helped Cain view his operation from a different perspective. Eric lives with Parkinson’s Disease, and doesn’t know how the illness will impact his future, he just deals with each day as they arrive.

Despite this, he still shows up to the shop, always tries his best to protect his loved ones, and adores spending time with baby Leyla, determined to not let his Parkinson’s completely rule his life.

As terrifying as it is to have cancer, and wait for his operation, the illness was discovered early for Cain. His situation could’ve been a lot worse, and he eventually realised this after his chat with Eric.

As Moira approached, Cain revealed that he’s decided to have the operation, and alluded to the fact that his conversation with Eric helped him make his choice.

He also commented on how he needs to be around to help son Isaac with his spellings, and that was all Moira needed to hear in order to feel reassured.