A COUNCILLOR has hailed hospital heroes after his daughter was admitted to Inverclyde Royal for a 'terrifying' emergency operation.

James Daisley praised the quick-thinking of locally-based medics in the face of complications arising from the positioning of his girl Erika's organs.

The 16-year-old was rushed to IRH's A&E department after complaining of severe abdominal pain and was quickly admitted for doctors to assess suspected appendicitis.

Erika's condition was complicated by an underlying, then-unknown condition that meant her some of her organs were not in their normal place inside her body, which resulted in her not giving the pain reaction that would be expected for a serious case of appendicitis.

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Despite this, Erika’s diligent doctors decided to proceed with an operation to remove her appendix to ensure she wasn’t at risk of it rupturing.

(Image: George Munro)

Dad Councillor James Daisley, told the Telegraph that his daughter’s situation could have been much worse if it wasn’t for the decisive action taken.

He said: “It seemed like a routine procedure but with all the extra complications involved and the fact we had to go into A&E, it just made things more challenging.

“It was more serious and complicated than appendicitis would have been normally because the doctors found that Erika’s appendix was not in the position it was supposed to be, it was almost in the centre of her body rather than at the right-hand side.

“That’s because there are issues with other organs in her body which make that the case.

“The surgeon actually said he’s never seen that before in someone Erika’s age, it usually happens in newborns or in someone who’s closer to pension age.

“They were really decisive about it and wanted to operate anyway just in case.

“If they didn’t do that they wouldn’t have noticed that her appendix was in the centre of her body rather than at the side and that could have meant that it ruptured.

“We could have left the hospital and she could have been in even more danger if it wasn’t for their quick thinking and decisiveness.”

SNP man Councillor Daisley, who represents Inverclyde Council’s ward six, has now hailed IRH staff for their professionalism throughout the ‘terrifying’ ordeal six weeks ago.

He added: “I wanted to just personally highlight and say thank you to the staff, from the moment she was admitted through to the moment she was let out again the experience was fantastic.

“It was Erika’s first time in hospital which is very scary.

“The surgeon was great, the nurses were brilliant and the hospital itself was really good.

“It’s very easy for people to forget how great an institution we have here in Inverclyde and I think all too often people use it as a punchbag to make political points in a negative way.

“I want to publicly thank the staff and everyone involved at Inverclyde Royal for the care they took of my daughter.

“I wasn’t with her at the time, which made it more terrifying. I’ve been very lucky in the fact that my children haven’t had to go through any difficult medical experiences and to have that happen was very scary.

“It was in the hands of the NHS and they did an amazing job.”

Erika has now been told she will require further operations in the future to address the complications discovered by doctors.

She described the ‘amazing’ support she received from staff during her stay at the hospital and has thanked them for the continuing care she has been given.

Erika said: “It was scary when I was told I was going to have to stay in the hospital, but as soon as I was up in the ward it was good and everyone was nice to me. They were amazing really.

“They were just constantly looking out for me.

“They kept in mind that I’m a child and didn’t treat me like I was older.

“I was close to home as well so if I needed anything my dad was just there and it was good to be seen by local nurses.

"They did a really good job.”