BRAVEHEART: BABY GIRL SURVIVES HEART SWELLING TO SIZE OF ORANGE
A baby girl has become the youngest British patient to receive a life-saving cardiac operation after her heart swelled to twice its normal size within days of her birth. Little Phoebe Whittle was just four weeks old when medics had to battle to save her life from a congenital defect which gave her tiny heart only a third of the oxygen it needed to work. Mum Charlotte 27, and husband Carl, 32, looked on in horror as she failed to breathe normally and turned blue within days of being born. Phoebe had been born with ALCAPA, Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery, that meant the artery to her heart muscle was connected incorrectly, starving it of oxygen.As a result, Phoebe's heart ballooned to twice its size - swelling from the size of a walnut to the size of an apple. But incredibly, the tiny tot - dubbed 'Braveheart' by her proud parents, made a stunning recovery following groundbreaking surgery at Alder Hey Children's Hospital
Other great stories
MOTHER'S FEAR AFTER SUICIDE DAUGHTER’S STALKER RELEASED
A mother is living in fear after the stalker she holds responsible for her daughter's death is back on the streets, after serving just one year in prison .
SPELLBINDING ENGLISH STAR TRAILS
A photographer has captured spellbinding images of stars swirling above the English countryside .
ABANDONED WILD WEST THEME PARK
The gunslingers are long gone and tumbleweeds have taken over at this abandoned American Wild West Theme Park in Cornwall .
HUNGRY HERON STRUGGLES TO HOLD ONTO ITS CATCH
A DETERMINED great blue heron holds on tightly to its prey as the furry gopher attempts to wriggle free .
MESMERISING FUNGI
With luminous colours and alien- like features, these magical mushrooms look like they belong on another planet .
HARVEY NICKS ADS ARE A WEE BIT TOO MUCH FOR SHOPPERS
High street giant Harvey Nichols has come under fire for a "disgusting" ad campaign that depicts a woman peeing herself .
GOING IN FOR THE GILL
NEVER mind being careful not to choke on your food, this mother bird has a bigger challenge on her hands, as her ravenous offspring impatiently launches its head down into her stomach .
CHEEKY BABY ORANGUTAN
CLIMBING, falling and tugging on his weary mum, this little orangutan is up to all kinds of trouble .
WOMAN NEARLY DIED AFTER PNEUMONIA TURNED INTO SEPSIS – HER LUNGS COLLAPSED AND HER LIPS TURNED BLUE
A woman has revealed how she almost died after she developed sepsis from a cold .
ROAD-KILL CUDDLY TOYS
With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .
INDONESIAN FLOATING MARKET IS BURSTING WITH COLOUR
A floating market in Indonesia is bursting with vibrant colours as wooden rowing boats loaded with fruit and vegetables crowd the river .