One surgeon ended up operating on both father and daughter, years apart, as Alder Hey Children’s Hospital marks more than 75 years of children’s cardiac surgery in Liverpool.

Just two years before he had heart surgery himself, Dr Ram Dhannapuneni carried out a life-saving operation on Colin’s newborn daughter, Edith, at Alder Hey.

“We’ve jokingly called him the family surgeon,” said Colin, from St Helens.

“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 marks more than 75 years of children’s cardiac surgery in the city.

The service was one of Europe’s first centres dedicated to children’s heart surgery when it opened at the Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital on Myrtle Street. It moved to Alder Hey in 1990.

Alder Hey is now one of the largest paediatric cardiac centres in the UK, caring for children and young people with complex heart conditions from across the country and beyond.

Colin first had surgery on Myrtle Street as a baby after he was born with a chronic heart disease known as Shone Syndrome.

In 2018, Colin and his wife Karen welcomed Edith, who was born with severe hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Within the first four months of her life, she needed two operations, led by Dr Dhannapuneni.

Two years later, Colin, who was 36 at the time, was back in the operating theatre himself.

“It brings great reassurance, knowing that you’ve got this fantastic hospital looking after children and then just a little bit down the road, you’ve got Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital that’s looking after adults as well,” he said.

“It’s doing lots and lots of really innovative things, it’s really leading the way in certain practices.”

Over the past 75 years, thousands of young patients have undergone life-saving procedures.

BBC North West Tonight has also been following three-year-old Raffy, who was born with a hole in his heart. His latest operation was also carried out by Dr Dhannapuneni.

“I couldn’t say thank you enough that it’s all gone as well as it can do,” said Phil, 39, after his son’s recent surgery.

“I think the operation was quicker than we expected.

“The outcome seems to have been pretty good. They’ve done an amazing job.”

Dr Dhannapuneni, the centre’s head of cardiac surgery, said he was incredibly proud of what had been achieved over more than 75 years.

He has personally carried out 2,500 surgeries on children and 1,000 on adults.

“Liverpool was one of the earliest [centres] in the world to start operating on children, way back in 1950,” he said.

“Alder Hey Children’s Hospital is the second biggest centre in UK and Ireland, performing heart surgeries.

“We are having better outcomes, more children operated with heart surgery [are] surviving now than before.”

Read more from BBC News.