A 98-year-old man has become the oldest in the world to undergo a life-saving heart op.

John appears on tonight's episode of BBC2 Hospital, at Hammersmith Hospital where he is admitted for the elective surgery to boost blood flow.

The procedure to replace his aortic valve is designed to help his heart pump blood.

John is the oldest patient to ever have this surgery, his team of doctors reveals.

He is having an operation known as TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation), which is offered to patients who are deemed not suitable for open heart surgery.

An artificial valve is inserted through an artery in the groin, up through the body and into the heart.

Without the treatment, John has been told he only has a 50 per cent chance of surviving the next six months.

But with age comes the risk of heart attack, stroke and bleeding during the surgery.

Dr Iqbal Malik, the surgical team leader, said: “It’s a miraculous treatment for the older patients that we couldn’t treat before, that we are now treating.

“We couldn’t possibly say anything about how long we will make him live, but he is a very active 98 and his quality of life has really got worse.

“When I was training, 65 was the cut off for old age but that is a young man these days.

“Yes, it is getting busier and the patients are getting older because they are surviving longer, which is a success story for the UK and the NHS.”

John is a fit and strong 98-year-old and explains the last time he was in hospital was to have some varicose veins removed 50 years ago.

He said: “I am not happy to be having it [the surgery] but what is the alternative?

“I am getting worse all the time recently, I used to walk miles and now I can only walk a couple of hundred yards.”

Dr Guarda Mikhail, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, said: "We can’t be ageist. We are dealing with an ageing population and he wants a better quality of life.

“We can’t deny a patient that, no matter what their age is."

But something goes wrong in the surgery and John suffers a stroke.

He loses feeling down the right side of his body and is rushed to Charing Cross Hospital, which has a specialist stroke branch.

He is rushed into another theatre where a clot is removed from his brain.

Thankfully, he survives and begins to make a recovery.

At the end of filming John was learning the walk again.

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Meanwhile, at the other end of the age spectrum is paediatrics – where medics deal with some of the country's sickest children.

Debbie is 18 and has sickle cell disease – something that will claim her life if she doesn’t have life-saving surgery.

She has already had a number of strokes due to her condition and the bone marrow transplant she needs is only offered to patients under 19 – Debbie is in a race against time.

St Mary’s Hospital is one of only a few trusts in the UK that will do the transplant with only a 50 per cent match, but that means Debbie’s risk of rejecting the transplant is much higher.

Debbie said: “I have a blood disorder. It causes pain in my joints, in my arms, my knees, my legs but it can affect any part of my body.

“But more severely it can affect your brain and cause strokes and neurological problems, and that is what happened to me.

“They said it comes with risks, but I just want to have it so I can continue with my life.”

Dr Leena Karnik, consultant paediatrician, said: “As current situations stands, this is Debbie’s last chance to get a bone marrow transplant.

“It is a bit like a Trojan horse and we are trying to get past the guards.

“If we don’t there will be reaction between the two immune systems, one of Debbie’s and one of the new bone marrow.

“Debbie’s half match transplant has the risk of rejection.

“However 90 per cent of the children have not only survival chance, but it can cure them.”

Debbie’s older brother Sam, 22, has agreed to donate his bone marrow.

He said: “Everything I have done up until this point means nothing.

“To literally give a bit of yourself to save someone else, now that is doing something. That is responsibility.

“It is so worth it because I get to give her something that is beyond a fighting chance and that is beyond anything I ever dreamed of doing.”

After the surgery, Debbie’s blood count is good and her body has not rejected the transplant.

By the time filming ended, she had been cured of sickle cell disease.

Filmed over six weeks during the past three months, Hospital is the story of the NHS in unprecedented times.

The documentary follows the stories of doctors and patients to show the dilemmas facing decision makers as the five NHS trusts featured attempt to care for nearly 20,000 people each week.

Hospital airs on BBC2 on Wednesdays at 9pm

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