A WOMAN who had her hip replaced by Oxford surgeons has now climbed 15 mountains just to prove what a good job they did.

Landscape designer Gail Noble had her operation at Headington's Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre three years ago when she was in her early 50s.

She was so delighted with the results and her release from pain that she moved from her home in South Oxfordshire to Snowdonia to make the most of her new mobility.

Now she has walked across more that a dozen peaks, each over 3,000 feet, in just six months.

She said: "All the way along I thought about the operation I underwent in January 2014 at the Nuffield, and I felt so grateful to the surgeon Peter McLardy-Smith and his team without whose skills I would not have been able to do that."

Ms Noble first started to feel pain in her right hip more than a decade ago when she was just 44.

She was diagnosed with a form of arthritis which required a hip replacement but a doctor advised not having the operation until it was absolutely necessary.

She managed to stay active and handle the pain for ten years, but, as time went on, she became less and less able to keep going.

She said: “When I got to the point when I couldn’t walk a mile, I realised I had to do something and go for the operation. The pain was critically affecting the quality of my and my husband’s life, as these are activities that we do together.”

She went to see her GP and three months later had her operation.

Just hours afterwards, staff helped her to get back on her feet.

After two months she was mobile enough to go back to her work as a landscape designer in South Oxfordshire.

But, in order to make the most of her recovered mobility, two years ago she moved to Snowdonia where she can now enjoy climbing mountains and other outdoor activities as often as she wants.

She added: “I was given a new life after the operation.

"I know many people in their 50s might feel very worried, but this operation really is a game changer.

“I would say to them: ‘Do it when it affects the quality of your life and go into it with a very positive attitude, because you can fully recover. Don’t limp. Go and get it done.’”