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
ADORABLE EXOTIC KITTENS AT NASHVILLE ZOO

A BUMPER season of births has left zoo with three of the cutest exotic kittens you're likely to see .

COUPLE TIE THE KNOT IN SPECTACULAR £45K HARRY POTTER WEDDING

A couple have tied the knot in a spectacular Harry Potter-themed wedding which cost £45,000 .

COSPLAY COUPLE FIND LOVE THROUGH GAME OF THRONES OBSESSION

A Game of Thrones obsessed couple have fallen in love after meeting at a comic convention dressed as lovestruck characters Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drago .

RING OF FIRE ECLIPSE IN OZ

THIS RING of fire in the sky is the annular solar eclipse that wowed our cousins down-under .

BEAUTY QUEEN ACID SCARE

HOTSPOT MEDIA - BEAUTY QUEEN ACID SCARE: Miss England finalist, Karla Fitzpatrick, 19, at the Miss England contest .

EASTER ISLAND REPLICA STATUES DESTROYED IN SEA FALL

A project to create an underwater tribute to the stone Moai statues of Easter Island ended in disaster when 15 replica structures were destroyed after toppling from a boat and into the sea .

McDIVING

HOTSPOT MEDIA - McDIVING CRAZE GOES VIRAL - DRUNK students have brought the term 'extra-value meal' to a new level in a bizarre internet craze sweeping across McDonalds chains - McDiving .

MAGNIFICENT SNOWY OWL

An elegant snowy owl spreads her wings and glides effortlessly above the snow covered field .

PURR-FECT TIGER CUBS GET THEIR HEALTH CHECKS

TRYING their best to wriggle away, three adorable tiger cubs receive their health checks at Chester Zoo .

BALD IS BEAUTIFUL: WOMEN WITH ALOPECIA TRANSFORMED INTO STUNNING SIRENS

A photographer has transformed women with alopecia into stunning sirens - showing that bald is beautiful .

MY MUM DONATED HER KIDNEY TO MY HUBBY – HIS LIFE IS TRANSFORMED

In 2021, Anneka Watkinson, now 37, from Lancashire, met Chris, now 40 .

SNOOZING SEAL PUP

RESTING his weary head on his flipper, this little seal pup takes a much needed nap after an afternoon of strenuous yoga .