Bethany Platt's teenage father Neil Fearns was killed in a car crash in September 2003 and Sarah Platt felt obligated to attend the funeral for the sake of her daughter, even though the Fearns and the Platts had had nothing to do with each other since the birth of the child.
Neil's devastated mother, Brenda was delighted to see Sarah and meet her granddaughter for the first time. Among the other mourners was Norma Radcliffe who back at the funeral tea at a restaurant told Sarah that Mr Fearns had left his wife a couple of years ago for a "younger model" and that Brenda had really been through an awful lot recently, now compounded by Neil's death. Brenda asked if she could visit her granddaughter occasionally and Sarah, feeling sorry for her, agreed.