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Character Profiles > Patrick Villante Lucas MacFarlane, Caspar Bolton Leunig, Basquiat Voevodin-Knack

Patrick Maurizio Villante 2012-2013
Lived: 32 Ramsay Street, Lucas & Vanessa's apartment
Parents: Lucas Fitzgerald and Vanessa Villante
Siblings: Sebastiana, 'Vanessa's Third Child'

The result of a one-night-stand between Lucas Fitzgerald and Vanessa Villante, baby Patrick already appeared to have three parents on the day of his birth. Several days overdue, Vanessa was struggling when she finally went into labour and, with Lucas on a secret mission to try and reunite Vanessa with her mum Francesca, Vanessa's ex, Rhys Lawson was on hand to help get her to the hospital and support her through the birth. As the baby was born, the emotion of the situation led to Rhys proposing marriage and Vanessa accepting, just as a heartbroken Lucas - who had secretly been in love with Vanessa for months - arrived. The baby was named after Lucas' late father and seemed healthy, but bad news was just around the corner, as nurse Georgia Brooks was checking him and realised that there was a problem. After Rhys did further tests, he confirmed with devastated Vanessa and Lucas that Patrick was suffering from a heart defect known as Ebstein's anomaly; a hole in the heart.

A shocked Lucas, already upset at Rhys and Vanessa's engagement, insisted on a second opinion, but when the second set of tests gave the same results, the new parents were forced to face up to the fact that their son would have a long battle ahead of him. And things only got worse for Lucas when he learnt that there was a possibility that the condition was genetic, and he was immediately racked with guilt, knowing that his dad had died due to heart problems. Vanessa and Lucas were told that Patrick would need an operation to remove a small part of his heart, but it would be weeks, or possibly months, until he was strong enough to be operated on. Desperate to focus all of her energy on her son, Vanessa ended her engagement to Rhys, but, wanting to help, he sold his car and set up an anonymous fund for Patrick, which meant that Vanessa wouldn't need to work and could spend all of her time with him. Lucas, however, used work as an excuse to avoid being at the hospital, admitting to Toadie, Ramsay Street's other new dad, that he just couldn't watch his baby suffer. After that, he slowly started spending more time with Patrick and Vanessa, but things took a dramatic turn when Patrick needed an emergency operation as his oxygen levels dropped, and he was at risk of brain damage. The operation was a success, and afterwards, an exhausted Vanessa agreed to move into the hospital's family accommodation, where she and Lucas finally grew closer and became a couple. In the weeks that followed, Vanessa found out that Lucas had taken some photos of Toadie's new baby, Nell and was upset that he hadn't done the same for his own child. Lucas then broke down and admitted that he was still finding it very difficult to spend time with Patrick when he was so ill.

Having opened up about his feelings, Lucas slowly found it easier to be around Patrick, even taking some photos of him. As the day of the operation finally arrived, Lucas and Vanessa waited for news and were eventually told that it had been a complete success. As both parents had been asked to donate blood, just in case of an emergency during the operation, Lucas was called in by Dr Karl and told that some abnormalities had been found when his blood was screened, and he was later told that he had testicular cancer. With Patrick finally well enough to come home, he decided to keep this information from Vanessa, not wanting her to worry about him until he knew the extent of his illness. Having rented Susan's old apartment, Lucas, Vanessa and Patrick finally became a family in their own home, with Vanessa completely unaware of the new threat that was hanging over their happiness. Lucas continued to keep his diagnosis secret from Vanessa, instead confiding in old friend Stephanie Scully, who had recently been released from prison. Unbeknownst to anyone, Steph had suffered a breakdown in prison and was on anti-psychotic medication, and was becoming increasingly obsessed with winning back Lucas from Vanessa. After weeks of plotting, and after she stopped taking her medication, Steph finally snapped and took Patrick from 32 Ramsay Street, where Lucas and Vanessa had joined their friends to watch the eclipse. Believing that Patrick was Adam, the son she'd given away not long before she went to prison, Steph called Lucas and asked him to come and see her, hoping that they could all be a family again. With the police waiting nearby, Lucas finally managed to convince Steph to hand over the baby - he was reunited with his parents, and Steph was taken away to a high-security psychiatric hospital.

Later that year, Lucas and Vanessa were facing serious financial problems, after his spontaneous decision to bid on one of the new apartments at Lassiter's. With Vanessa pregnant again and facing a difficult time, the pressure was mounting on Lucas to support his family, and he ended up returning to his old gambling habit, which only resulted in more debt for the family. When Vanessa found out what he'd been doing, it almost ended the relationship completely, but then a lifeline arrived in the form of her estranged husband Alec Pocoli - he offered Vanessa $100,000 if she'd grant him a quick annulment, so he could remarry. This money gave Lucas and Vanessa some breathing space and things were back on track for them, though their wedding the following week was without the usual vows, as Vanessa's annulment hadn't come through. Following a short honeymoon in Daylesford, Lucas and Vanessa returned to the surprising news that they'd been made offers on both their Lassiter's apartment and Lucas's garage, and having seen a beautiful cottage for sale, they decided that it was fate and that they should sell up and make a fresh start in the country. And so, after saying goodbye to all of their friends on Ramsay Street, and becoming an official part of the Ramsay Street history book, Lucas, Vanessa and Patrick waved goodbye to Erinsborough.

Eighteen months later, Lucas and Vanessa made a brief return to Erinsborough to run a stall - for Vanessa's bakery, Paddy Cakes - at the community festival. They brought along their young daughter, Sebastiana, as well as announcing that Vanessa was pregnant for a third time, but left Patrick with Francesca.

Trivia Notes
• Lucas MacFarlane played Patrick between episodes 6551 and 6565, Caspar Bolton Leunig from episodes 6569-6621, and Basquiat Voevodin-Knack then both took over the role, first appearing in episode 6615 and remaining until Lucas, Vanessa and Patrick departed in episode 6737

Tenure
6550-6737