Father and daughter both saved by same Liverpool heart surgeon

A St Helens father and his seven-year-old daughter have both had their lives saved by the same cardiac surgeon at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

Colin, now 42, first underwent heart surgery as a baby after being born with Shone Syndrome, a chronic heart disease. In 2018, his daughter Edith was born with severe hypoplastic left heart syndrome and required two operations within her first four months, both led by Dr Ram Dhannapuneni.

Two years later, when Colin himself needed open heart surgery for the second time at age 36, he found reassurance in discovering the same surgeon would be operating on him. "We've jokingly called him the family surgeon," Colin said. "I feel very privileged that I can shake hands with a surgeon who has quite literally touched both mine and my daughter's hearts."

Colin shared his story as Alder Hey marked more than 75 years of children's cardiac surgery in Liverpool. The hospital is now one of the largest paediatric cardiac centres in the UK, caring for children with complex heart conditions from across the country.