Ruth and Philip also had to cope with her long lost son, Ben (Brett Cousins) and his father, Geoff (Andrew McKaige), arriving in town. Piper told the "Illawarra Mercury" that she would never forget the moment producers told her that she was going to have a 21-year-old son and that her character had been pregnant at 16, which she had kept hidden. Ben comes to Ramsay Street to meet Ruth and Piper said it was "the first time we ever saw Ruth's character as anything but a bright and sunny person." Piper also revealed that uncovering new things about her character led to "really meaty scenes." Ben's arrival won an AFI Award and Piper said the episode was "beautifully written" and she and Cousins were allowed to feed the characters and not just the plot. Ben is later involved in a major car accident and he is left in a coma, which is a testing time for Ruth. Ben goes on to recover.