PROUD Bob Wilson shares an extra-special bond with his granddaughter, Rhianne, after they both had life-saving heart operations performed by the same surgeon.

Rhianne was diagnosed with a faulty heart valve shortly after she was born in 1996, and underwent surgery when she was eight days old.

The youngster, now four, is thriving thanks to the surgery performed by surgeon Asif Hasan, at the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear.

Now Mr Hasan has saved the life of Rhianne's grandfather, after he performed a triple heart bypass operation.

After the worry of wondering if his granddaughter would survive, Mr Wilson feared he might never see her again, after he suffered three heart attacks in as many weeks.

Mr Wilson was at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Gateshead, where he was just about to be discharged following his second heart attack, when he suffered a third and was rushed to the Freeman Hospital. He arrived at the same time that Rhianne was there to undergo one of her regular check-ups.

Mr Wilson, from Heworth, Gateshead, was allowed home just six days after the four-hour operation.

As he hugged his granddaughter, he said: "I will never be able to thank Mr Hasan enough for what he has done for this family.

"It was such a traumatic time when Rhianne was born with that heart condition. There were moments when I thought that she might not pull through.

"But Mr Hasan saved her life and in doing so gave me some very special moments with my granddaughter.

"When I had the heart attack, I thought I might never spend any more special times with her. But he was there again to save me and allowed me to spend precious time with her.

"After the operation the bond between me and Rhianne is even stronger. I will never be able to repay him."