A BOLTON war hero has become one of the oldest people in the country to have a hip replacement — at the age of 95.

Second World War paratrooper Ernest Emmott was in so much pain with his hip that the normally active pensioner considered paying privately for surgery, thinking that at his age it would not be available on the NHS.

But after meeting the sprightly war veteran, consultant orthopaedic surgeon Professor Max Fehily, from the Royal Bolton Hospital, agreed to take on the task.

Professor Fehily said that, after talking over the risks of the operation with Mr Emmott and his family, there was no doubt that he would go ahead with the surgery to improve the veteran’s quality of life.

He stressed that after the former soldier’s bravery for his country he was owed the best possible care.

“The risks to him when he parachuted far outweighed the risks of having surgery,” said Mr Fehily.

“We had a duty to do it — that is what the NHS is for.”

With the help of a spinal anaesthetic which meant that Mr Emmott was conscious throughout the two-hour operation, Mr Fehily replaced Mr Emmott’s right hip on April 19 and he was walking two days later.

Mr Emmott is the professor’s most elderly hip replacement patient and is thought to be the oldest to undergo the procedure at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The grandfather-of-three is now having physiotherapy at his Deane home and looking forward to making a full recovery.

His wife Dorothy, aged 85, is delighted with the care he received and the outcome of the surgery, which ended six months of pain for her husband.

“Everyone at the hospital was absolutely super. They were kindness themselves to Ernest and us as a family,” she said.

Mr Emmott served as a paratrooper with the 6th Airborne Division during the Second World War, dropping behind enemy lines in France the day before D-Day to help with the Normandy landings.

Mrs Emmott says she is delighted Mr Fehily was determined to carry out the surgery despite her husband’s age.

After the war Mr Emmott worked in grocery management, where he met his wife, who worked in the same profession, until he retired.

The couple, who have a daughter, Margaret Jackson, celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in March with a party at the Reebok Stadium. The Emmotts are both long-standing Wanderers fans.

Mr Emmott may be one of Bolton’s oldest hip patients but he is a mere youngster compared to some who have undergone the same surgery.

More than 50,000 hip replacements are carried out in the UK each year, with the Guinness Book of Records naming Laurie Randall, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, the oldest. He received a new hip in November 2011 at the age of 102.

Mr Fehily added that some surgeons may be reluctant to take on elderly hip replacement patients because of the higher risks involved, so leaving some pensioners living their lives on painkillers and possibly confined to wheelchairs.

And he fears that, in future, the reluctance may increase with the publication of data relating to the outcomes of surgeons’ work.