A man has thanked staff at Queen’s Hospital after he became the first patient to receive ground-breaking surgery at the hospital.

Ayer Ezder is back at home recovering after undergoing surgery at the Rom Valley Way Hospital for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

He said: “I am so grateful to everyone who looked after me.

“I know I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for them and their quick thinking.”

Ayer, from Dagenham went to King George Hospital in Goodmayes in acute pain with a suspected kidney stone.

But an emergency CT scan showed that he was actually suffering from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm- an extremely dangerous condition.

Around 50 per cent of patients who have a ruptured aneurysm die before they even make it to hospital.

Of the remainder, who undergo emergency surgery, only ten percent survive.

Until now a major operation was needed to try and repair the damage with open surgery under general anaesthetic.

Ayer was rushed to Queen’s Hospital where vascular surgeon Sabu Jacob realised that he was so critically ill that he would not survive such a major operation.

He and interventional radiologist Manoj Srivastava decided to use a minimally invasive procedure, using a stent graft repair to seal the leaking aneurysm.

The procedure was done under local anaesthetic with sedation or an epidural, with the stent graft inserted through open arteries.

The operation saw all of the theatre, radiology, anesthetic and intensive care teams coming together to ensure that it could be carried out immediately.

It is the first time a stent graft has been used to repair a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm at the trust.