Oliver Benjamin Battersby was the son of Leanne Battersby and Steve McDonald. He was born in February 2017. Oliver died in November 2020, aged just 3, after a battle with mitochondrial disease.
Biography
2017-2020
Oliver Benjamin Battersby was born 20th February 2017 as a result of a one night stand Steve McDonald had with Michelle in 2016.
Legacy
In June 2024, an aged Oliver was created by a cult known as The Institute, which Leanne had become part of and groomed by. She was gifted the state of the art AI by Rowan Cunliffe, which allowed Leanne to "talk" to a now older Oliver, who "replied" back that he loved her. Nick walked into the room as Leanne and Rowan talked to the artificial intelligence, which unnerved him.
Trivia
In 2020 Oliver started fitting a lot and it was revealed he had mitochondrial disease. He was admitted to hospital where he kept having multiple seizures. The doctors said his illness was terminal and that he would not survive it. The probable origins of the storyline date back to 2017 when Michelle Connor argued with Leanne over her baby Ruairi McDonald being stillborn, and the fact that Leanne had a fling with Oliver's father Steve McDonald who was with Michelle at the time. During the row, Michelle said "Why cant your baby not have died?". This probably gave the writers ideas for Oliver's terminal illness storyline.