Sunday 12 January 2014

Hayley Anne Cropper - This is Your Life

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog December 2013, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Hayley Anne Cropper (née Hayley Patterson, formerly Harold Patterson) - we are going to miss you. A lot.  We know you're going to die and that it will be:  "Not today, not tomorrow, but soon" and as we bulk buy our tissues and get ready to wave you off to the cobbles in the sky, let's have a look back at your time on Coronation Street.

Sources: Corrie.net and Wikipedia

When Hayley met Roy
Hayley first appeared on Coronation Street on 26 January 1998 with a job at Firman's Freezers. Hayley became firm friends with Alma Baldwin who tried to pair her off with Curly Watts before Hayley became friends with Roy Cropper. Meetings and dates followed and they became close; it was obviously the first relationship for both of them. After a romantic meal, Hayley decides to trust Roy with her greatest secret.



Although she looked like a normal woman, she was not. She still had to undergo the final operation that would transform her into a complete physical female. Roy was initially horrified and rejected Hayley for a while. Hayley then discovered that her father had left her a sizable amount of money - tens of thousands of pounds! She decided to fulfill her dream and went to Amsterdam for the final part of her treatment, the operation. In a touching farewell scene, they said their goodbyes, and Roy gave Hayley a book about "Automotive Engines", but inside was a beautiful silver locket; a token of his true feelings.


Operation Amsterdam
After her operation, Hayley rented a room on a houseboat in Amsterdam, to recuperate, and wrote Roy a letter. Shortly afterwards she was delighted to find him unexpectedly on her doorstep. After spending a few days together, unsuccessfully trying to find out how they felt about each other, Hayley finally got a sign from Roy that he really cared a great deal for her, when he left behind an engraved watch as a present. As a result, she caught him at the airport and accompanied him back to Weatherfield, to Roy's delight.

Secret’s out at Underworld
Hayley then started work at Underworld but when discussing a confusion by the DSS over Hayley's name, Alma accidently told Mike about Hayley's past. He was appalled and unable to come to terms with it, and fired Hayley. When threatened with a possible strike by the factory girls, and constant hostility from Alma over the issue, he relented and rehired her.  But Mike's treatment of Hayley was dreadful and Roy wouldn't stand for it, throwing a pint over Mike in the Rovers after he made more nasty remarks about Hayley.


Hayley then moved into the flat above the café with Roy and he proposed to her - but Hayley had to decline, due to the British legal system not allowing transsexual marriages. She then bought Gail’s share of the cafe and became Roy's sleeping partner in their new café business - Roy's Rolls on Victoria Street.

Wedding No. 1
With her Great Uncle Bert on hand to give the bride away, Alma as matron of honour and Toyah and Sarah-Lou as bridesmaids, Hayley designed and made her own wedding dress. Roy and Hayley made it to the church, only to be foiled by Les Battersby, who had tipped off the press and was keen to see the wedding plastered over the papers. A distraught Roy and Hayley returned to the cafe, thinking the ceremony a washout. Hayley was truly devastated, but was surprised by Roy when she came down from the cafe to find everyone ready to perform the ceremony there. They were wed on April 23, 1999.


Kids
Hayley finally broaches the subject of children with Roy and their foster kids include Wayne Hayes, Jackie Mosely and Fiz Brown.

Hayley’s son Christian
Following the death of her aunt Monica in September 2007, Hayley discovers she has an adult son,  Christian Gatley. She hires a private investigator to track him down, and eventually introduces herself as his aunt. Hayley finally reveals the truth that she's his mum, Christian doesn't take it well, lashes out and hits Hayley across the face. 


Africa
Hayley leaves the Street in October 2007 to go on volunteer work in Mozambique for a year.

Return to Weatherfield
Hayley returns from Africa in November 2008 with the secret that she’s fallen for Olaf, the project team leader. She decides not to return to Underworld and opts for a new challenge as a social worker. However, her chances are ruined when her police record (for the abduction of foster child Wayne Hayes in 2001), is revealed, ruling her ineligible to work with children. She subsequently continues working in the café and then gets the job of supervisor at Underworld in 2009.

Held Hostage
Hayley is held hostage with Carla Connor in Underworld by Tony Gordon. Later that same week, Roy proposes to Hayley, which she accepts.



Romania

Such is the popularity of the Croppers, Roy and Hayley star in 2009 in a Coronation Street spin-off DVD Romanian Holiday.

Wedding No 2
The Gender Recognition Act was passed in 2004 and and Roy and Hayley plan their official, legal union for 30 August 2010. In Roy's wedding speech he says: "It is 11 years since we last registered to be married and we were informed that we could not. We have remained still and the world has turned to meet us."



The mother in law

Roy’s mum Sylvia arrives for her son's wedding and Tracy Barlow does her worst and blurts that Hayley is transgender. In 2012 Roy and Hayley visit California to visit Sylvia and her companion Milton Fanshaw. Roy returns without Hayley, who stays in the USA caring for an ill Sylvia.

Bad, sad, news...
In 2013, Hayley’s told by her doctor that a blockage in her bile duct may be cancer and a CT scan confirms stage-two pancreatic cancer.  Hayley decides to make the most of the time she has left and heads to Blackpool with Roy, who makes one of Hayley's dreams come true as they dance at the Tower Ballroom.



Christmas 2013 will be the last Christmas that Hayley and Roy share together.

And now, we face dealing with Hayley's death in January 2014...







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