the Woolpack's roof collapsing on top of her. Tricia was found alive and rushed to hospital but suffered a heart attack. The hospital staff revived her but tests revealed that she had suffered serious brain damage. She was declared braindead and the medical team requested permission to switch off her life support machine. Marlon took some convincing to agree, as he was still determined that she would recover, but he finally agreed on realising that there was no hope of her recovering. The grief suffered by Marlon was prolonged close to a year until he developed a friendship with Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth). It was thanks to Donna's kind heart that Marlon moved on from his loss. Although he rebuffed her attempts to snare him early in the year, Donna proved she was the woman for Marlon when she helped him look after his cousin, Lilith Dingle's (Amanda Hennessy), children when she suddenly left them with him. It didn't take long for Marlon and Donna to fall in love. When he proposed to her en route to a chef's competition in Newcastle, Donna agreed and it looked like there was a happy ending in sight. However, being so young, marriage was a big thing for Donna to consider. She'd also recently become close to Max King (Charlie Kemp) and his death left her absolutely devastated. Shortly before the wedding, Marlon started having nightmares about Tricia. This was made worse when Marlon caught Donna trying on Tricia's wedding dress, making him think that Tricia had come back. Donna explained she felt like she was always being compared to Tricia. On the morning of the wedding, Donna confided in Marlon that she had feelings for Max while they were together. Heartbroken by this admission, Marlon wondered if they should get married but his love for her overwhelmed his doubts and they married. On return from honeymoon, Marlon and Donna spent their first few months of married life living at Smithy Cottage with Paddy and Toni Daggert (Kerry Stacey). Donna and Marlon were desperate to get on the property ladder but the prices at King & Sons' new development were too steep. So when they won the Kings River Showhome, they were thrilled but shocked to discover that they still had to pay a deposit. Donna's mother, Viv Hope (Deena Payne), offered Donna the money if Donna would be her surrogate. Marlon and