Jackson Walsh is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Marc Silcock.

Jackson subsequently struggles with his situation and he asks Aaron and his mother, Hazel Rhodes (Pauline Quirke), to end his life.

In March 2010, Digital Spy announced that former Hollyoaks actor Silcock had joined the cast of Emmerdale as Jackson Walsh, a potential love interest for Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller).

[5] In May 2010 it was announced that established actress Pauline Quirke had been cast as Jackson's mother, Hazel Rhodes.

[9] Describing the scenes Silcock stated: "All the emotion you see on screen at the landing from me, Pauline Quirke and Danny Miller was genuine."

Jackson makes it clear that he is not interested in Aaron anymore and he gets a building job with Declan Macey (Jason Merrells).

In an attempt to show Jackson that his life is worth living, Hazel and Aaron take him to the seaside and he goes skydiving.

Jackson is later seen on a videotaped message at his funeral, addressing the congregation and exonerating Hazel and Aaron of blame for his death and telling his father that he loves him.

[12] The crash that left Jackson paralysed received a nomination for "Spectacular Scene of the Year" at The British Soap Awards.

"[2] Kris Green writing for Digital Spy, chose Jackson and Aaron's first kiss as their picture of the day in April 2010.

[16] Mark Perigard writing for the Boston Herald praised Silcock observing him as giving "one gripping performance after another".

He also applauded the realism of Jackson being quadriplegic, stating that if it were an American soap opera he would have "fully recovered and been back to building shelves in two months".

[17] Perigard of the Boston Herald praised Silcock for the parachute jump and called it a "great sequence.

[18] He also said Emmerdale were making a mistake in letting Silcock leave because he had demonstrated "once again his talent for finding the heart of every scene.

"[18] What's on TV opined that "The tandem skydive initially worked wonders for the tetraplegic's attitude to life", but noted he soon slipped back into depression.

[8] Following Jackson's death by assisted suicide, viewers had complained about the scenes being aired hours before the watershed.

[19] They revealed that when they learnt of the storyline, they voiced their concerns and asked the producers to move away from it and show Jackson's "journey back to independence in a positive light.

"[19] Aspire's director of services, Alex Rankin, added, "This storyline had the potential to be ground-breaking in its approach to disability, and to challenge misguided opinions on spinal cord injury.

I sincerely hope that the 1,200 people who will be paralysed by spinal cord injuries this year, and their families, do not find themselves believing that Jackson's story represents their future.

"[19] Boston Herald writer Perigard praised the acting by Silcock, Miller and Quirke during the storyline.