GRANDMOTHER Maureen Smith has been dubbed the 'Miracle Woman' by hospital staff after a rare heart operation to save her life.

The Drybrook grandmother is grateful to be alive and was close to death when surgeons were forced to replace four cancer-damaged valves in one go.

Hospital staff gave her the nickname 'Miracle Woman' because she was the only known person in the world to have survived such a risky procedure.

Her case has been featured in a prestigious medical journal.

"People did not expect me to come around but I had trust in the skill of the surgeons and they repaid that trust," she said.

Maureen, 68, says her troubles started in 2007 when she developed an unusual slow growing cancer known as carcinoid syndrome.

When it attacked her heart valves, doctors at the Bristol Heart Institute told husband Colin she would die unless they carried out a highly risky operation.