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Character Profiles > Rhys Lawson Ben Barber

Dr. Rhys Lawson 2011-
Lives: 26 Ramsay Street
Lived: Rhys' apartment
Parents: Eddie and Elaine Lawson
Occupation: Surgeon, Doctor at Erinsborough Hospital

Ambitious and abrupt, Rhys Lawson spent much of his life growing up with just his mum, Elaine, after his father abandoned them. Eddie Lawson had never been a very good father or husband, and had walked out on his wife and 14-year-old son when Elaine had been diagnosed with spinal degeneration. It was this illness that prompted Rhys' decision to train as a doctor and help other people like his mother, and he had been determined that nothing would get in the way of him achieving this.

When Rhys began working as a G.P. at Erinsborough Hospital, one of his first cases was Jim Dolan, a terminally ill cancer patient, and a case which soon saw him clashing with colleague Karl Kennedy, who felt that Jim's illness had progressed to a point where Rhys' suggested chemotherapy would make little difference. When Karl told this information to his wife, Susan, who also happened to be supporting Jim through the process, she passed the information on, and Rhys was angry when Jim made the decision to stop the chemotherapy. The situation grew more complicated as Karl became upset about the amount of time Susan was spending with Jim, asking Jim to keep his distance, and forcing Rhys to obey Jim's wishes and stop Susan from visiting too. However, as Jim's condition suddenly deteriorated, relations between Rhys and Karl improved slightly, and Rhys was forced to face the more emotional side of his job when he was in the room during Jim's final moments, holding his hand as he passed away.

Meanwhile, Rhys met more of the residents of Ramsay Street as he started visiting Charlie's bar, where he met, and had a one-night-stand with, Kate Ramsay. He also ended up helping out Jade Mitchell and Kyle Canning, who were desperate to get rid of their housemate from hell, Michelle Tran. Rhys agreed to pretend to be the letting agent performing a surprise inspection, telling Michelle that there was damage to her room that would cost $2000 to fix. After weeks of trying to get her out of their home, Kyle and Jade were delighted when this plan worked and, a few weeks later, Rhys ended up taking the spare room and becoming Ramsay Street's newest resident.

At work, Rhys was determined that the next step is his career would be to win over head of sugery, Martin Chambers, and get a place on the hospital's surgical programme. His attempts to get Karl to put in a good word with his golfing buddy Martin came to nothing, but when Karl, still distracted over Jim Dolan, accidentally filled out a prescription with too much insulin, Rhys took the blame, showing the first signs of how manipulative he could be, as he then blackmailed Karl into getting him invited to a golf game.

Tenure
6203-

Biography by Steve

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