A mother told she had terminal cancer by doctors who ignored her pleas for help 13 times has made a miracle recovery following the UK's first operation of its kind. Ruth McDonagh was repeatedly turned away by medics over the course of two years despite suffering from the classic symptoms of bowel cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, she was told she had just 18 months left to live as a huge tumour in her bowel had grown so large it was almost inoperable. Her only option was a £100,000 operation only available in the US which was certain to leave her paralysed from the waist down. But at the eleventh hour a team of UK doctors trained in the American technique agreed to carry out Ruth's surgery in a 13-hour operation never before carried out in this country.
A brave cricket takes his chances as he sits on top of this green papua tree frog .
A mum who weighed just 8st 1lb at eight months pregnant has battled her eating disorder to give birth to a healthy baby girl .
A diver attempts to control rising numbers of lionfish by feeding the venomous species to Caribbean reef sharks .
LIKE A scene from A Bugs Life, these ants work on creating their own mini community .
DANCE guru Matt Howes leaves crowds in a spin when he gets behind the decks - as the world's only one-armed professional DJ .
ARMED with her camera, bikini and flippers, this brave diver goes swimming with SHARKS .
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
A little boy whose brain grew inside his nose has been described as the 'real-life Pinocchio' by his proud mum .
AN ADORABLE one-eyed kitten has been dubbed the 'pirate cat' because of his pirate-like facial expressions .
A group of otters put on a show of aqua aerobics, as they raise their flippers perfectly in sync .
Gabrielle Dale, 26, was subjected to seven years of coercive control and physical abuse at the hands of her violent boyfriend Sean Owen, 29 .
BRAIDED, sculpted and beaded, these are the eye-catching hairstyles worn by the tribal women of Angola .