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Guest Character Profiles > Mandy Edwards Emelia Burns

Mandy Edwards 2013, 2014
Marital Status: Eric Edwards
Children: Mia

After badly injuring his back on a skiing trip, Eric Edwards was left unable to work, and having signed a disclaimer, was unable to get any compensation out of the ski resort. This soon put a burden on his wife Mandy, as he struggled to support her and their baby daughter Mia. She got a couple of part-time jobs to help keep them afloat, but soon they had lost their home, and a desperate Eric decided to try faking an injury at the local gym, hoping to get the compensation that he felt he was owed. The truth was soon uncovered, and Mandy was embarrassed when she attended a mothers' group, only to meet Sonya Rebecchi, the wife of Toadie - the lawyer Eric had employed for his compensation claim against the gym. As Sonya listened to Mandy's story, she felt terrible, and asked Toadie if he might be able to do something to help the Edwards family.

After meeting with Eric and hearing about the skiing accident, Toadie agreed that there might be grounds for compensation, but was upset to realise that Eric had left out some vital information - he'd arrived drunk for his lesson and had gone out skiing against the advice of the instructors. Having now been lied to twice by Eric, Toadie cut all ties with him, but Eric then found out that Imogen, the girl who'd been on work experience during his first meeting with Toadie, was the daughter of Brad, the manager of the gym. Eric went to visit Toadie and explained that he'd found out about the conflict of interest and intended to sue Toadie for negligence. Realising that she'd triggered this chain of events, Sonya met with Mandy to talk things over, and Mandy explained that, after a huge row with Eric, she was now staying in a motel. Believing she could help, Sonya invited Mandy for lunch, and got Toadie to text Eric and ask him over, hoping that talking things over might help. The plan failed, as Eric and Mandy barely spoke to each other, and Sonya and Toadie ended up having a huge fight about her sticking her nose into other people's business. However, the fight then reminded Eric and Mandy of the passion that had once existed in their own marriage - they decided to give things another try, and Eric told Toadie that he would drop the negligence case.

The following year, Sonya and Mandy met for a catch-up, and Mandy was happy to report that Eric had a new job, was undergoing counselling and the marriage was back on track. When Mandy then mentioned that they were thinking about renewing their wedding vows, Sonya thought it was a great idea and suggested that her neighbour Susan Kennedy, who had just begun the process of becoming a celebrant, might be able to help. As it was going to be Susan's first time as a celebrant, she offered a good deal, and Mandy explained that she just wanted something low key. Unfortunately, when Susan's husband Karl heard about it, he contacted Mandy and, in an attempt to help, he offered up suggestions for a more lavish event, including live music from his band, The Right Prescription. Mandy was suddenly put off, and met with a surprised Susan to explain that they'd decided to go with a different celebrant, as clearly Susan and her husband had a different idea of what the ceremony should be like.