An Ilkley GP is to tackle a cycling challenge in aid of the Leeds children’s heart surgery unit which saved the life of his seriously-ill baby daughter.

Dr Sam Dabin will be joined by Ilkley Moor Medical Practice colleague, Dr Graeme Summers, and eight other friends and family members, on a 112-mile ride starting and finishing at Threshfield, near Grassington, this May.

He will be raising money to support the children’s heart unit which treated baby Amelie when she was found to have a rare heart condition.

When Amelie was born last September, she seemed a perfectly healthy baby but eight weeks later at a routine health check, she was found to have a heart murmur.

She was referred for further tests and found to have a tetralogy of fallot, a serious and rare heart condition.

She soon began to feed with difficulty and have episodes of having bluish skin when crying. Her condition rapidly deteriorated and she was admitted to Leeds General Infirmary Paediatric Heart Unit.

A surgical team performed a six-hour lifesaving operation in the middle of the night but she made an excellent recovery under the care of the nurses and two weeks later was discharged home.

Dr Dabin says Amelie, now four and a half months old, is doing well.

“She’s really good, she’s put on a lot of weight and she’s recovering very well,” he said.

Dr Dabin said he would like to do something for the Leeds unit, which was threatened with closure last year.

Visit justgiving.com/Sam-Dabin to sponsor the bike ride.