By then, Dot has been establishing a relationship with her neighbour Jim Branning (John Bardon). He soon proposes to her, but she is overwhelmed and leaves Walford in response to this. Jim perseveres and when they go on the London Eye one Christmas Eve, he proposes again and she accepts. They decide that they will have a platonic marital relationship. Dot is diagnosed with kidney cancer and decides not to tell anyone except her friend Dennis Rickman (Nigel Harman). She initially refuses treatment and plans to die quietly, but is eventually persuaded to undergo chemotherapy and makes a full recovery. When Dot finds an abandoned baby, Tomas, in a church, she takes him home, leaving her contact details at the church and subsequently Tomas' mother Anya (Olga Fedori) arrives in Walford, revealing she is an illegal immigrant. Jim anonymously reports Anya and when she is deported, Dot hides Tomas from the authorities, vowing to take care of him. Dot and Jim struggle to look after the baby and, after talking to the local vicar and her old friend Dr. Harold Legg (Leonard Fenton), Dot decides to hand him over to Social Services. Jim suffers a stroke, leaving him seriously ill. Jim is placed in a nursing home, but Dot struggles with this decision and tries at a later date to care for Jim at home. However, she finds being a full-time carer exhausting and lonely. Eventually, after Dot experiences ill-health brought on by stress, Jim moves back to a nursing home.