The soap hunk was targeted in an acid attack in tonight's double bill after a case of mistaken identity.
Debbie Dingle (played by Charley Webb) asked Simon to go after Joe Tate (Ned Porteous), but he got a different member of the Emmerdale cast instead.
Ross (Michael Parr) had taken one of Joe's cars and, seeing him get out of it, Simon assumed he was his intended target.
Luckily, Joe and his right-hand man Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) were hot on Ross' heels to get the car back and called an ambulance.
Ross screamed in agony as Graham doused his face in cold water to try and minimise the damage caused.
ITV
ITV
“In time, I'll go back to normal, yeah?”
Ross Barton
But once he got to hospital, the extent of Ross' injuries was revealed, with brother Pete (Anthony Quinlan) struggling to look at him.
Doctors told Ross that they couldn't neutralise the pH of his skin and that he would have to have a procedure, which was likened to a power jet, on his face to remove the affected skin.
Ross begged: "This jet wash thing, it'll fix it? I'll be normal? In time, I'll go back to normal, yeah?"
Fans were traumatised by the attack, with some saying it shouldn't have been shown pre-watershed.
ITV
But others were struggling to deal with the changes, saying: "Poor Ross and his beautiful face."
Another tweeted: "Can't cope with what they've done to my Ross on Emmerdale. I still love you."
A third wrote: "Feel so sorry for Ross, his life's been completely changed forever because of that little b******!"
And a fourth added: "Devastated Ross got acid thrown in his face. The fittest guy on the show. Great but hard story to portray."
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TWITTER
But someone else wondered: "I really hope Emmerdale keep up with the makeup to show the scars from Ross' attack and don't just stop after a few months because it's too much effort.
"Don't want a repeat of what happened with Louise's burns in EastEnders and all was forgotten."
Emmerdale continues tomorrow night at 7pm on ITV.