Nan, 69, first to receive lifechanging surgery at Liverpool Hospital

Stella Smeeton with Professor Shakil Ahmed and a member of the Colorectal team (Image: University Hospitals of Liverpool Group)

A nan-of-two has become the first patient in Europe to receive life-changing bowel cancer surgery and be fully recovered just one week after surgery. Stella Smeeton, 69, from Cuddington in Cheshire, has made medical history after undergoing pioneering robotic surgery at Liverpool’s Aintree University Hospital.

Aintree's surgical team recently became the first in Europe to use a transanal da Vinci access port to remove early-stage rectal cancer, a major breakthrough in robotic-assisted cancer treatment. The operation, performed in October 2025 by the hospital’s specialist Colorectal team, used the £2 million da Vinci single-port (SP) robotic system. The same