A proud mum hailed her four-month-old baby a "superhero" after she underwent eight hours of open heart surgery and came out fighting.
Little Tilly has down syndrome and it was discovered during mum Becky's pregnancy that her baby had two holes in her heart that required surgery about a fortnight after birth.
The long procedure was carried out at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool which was declared a complete success.
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Tilly spent 26 hours in intensive care for up to five days after the procedure and then was allowed to go home to Stoneycroft.
Today, mum Becky, 32, told the ECHO: "The team at Alder Hey and surgeon Dr Ram were fantastic, we cannot thank them enough.
"They saved our baby's life.
"The team on Ward 1C were great, there for us day and night.
"They were brilliant.
"Tilly came out of hospital on August 10 and she's doing really well."
The 18-week-old is the first child of Becky Guest and partner Gary Mawdsley, 32.
The mum, a teaching assistant, added: "Tilly is like a completely different baby now, I can't describe it, she's incredible.
"We're so proud of her.
"She's doing everything a baby should at her age, smiling at us, kicking her legs, cooing.
"Our experience of Alder Hey was so good, we're so blessed to have a brilliant hospital on our doorstep.
"If we could give them [the staff] the world, we would.
"It's been emotional, we didn't know what to expect.
"It was a serious operation for up to eight hours, but Tilly was in the best hands.
"She's such a little fighter."
Alder Hey said: "Ram the Man & team have done it again!
"Tilly's one of our gorgeous heart warriors."
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