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
WAVES FROZEN IN TIME

Beautiful turquoise waves rise and fall in a series of stunning images taken along the coastline of south-eastern Australia .

HUNGRY HIPPO MISSES OUT ON LUNCH

A hungry hippo is seconds away from catching a bird in its gigantic jaws .

THE DANGEROUS WORK OF SULPHUR MINERS

These are the men with one of the most unpleasant jobs in the world .

HUNGRY WHITE-TAILED KITE

SOARING through the air, a hungry white-tailed kite prepares to snatch a vole from his mother’s claws .

SLEEPING IN THE MOONLIGHT

With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Staring death in the face, a little field mouse bravely confronts a hungry cat .

MUM SPENDS THOUSANDS ON FAKE BABIES INSTEAD OF HER REAL KIDS

A mum-of-two has splashed out £20k on her seven reborn dolls, but refuses to treat her real kids .

SHARK SELFIES

NOT YOUR everyday selfie, this plucky diver poses with some of the scariest predators in the ocean .

BIKINI DIVER SWIMS WITH SHARKS

ARMED with her camera, bikini and flippers, this brave diver goes swimming with SHARKS .

FIGHTING FOX IS BEATEN BY EAGLES

A fox takes a tumble and lands on his head when he tries to fend off a pair of eagles in Japan .

WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR

HOTSPOT MEDIA - WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR: WHILE most workers endure commuting chaos by road or rail everyday, one entrepreneur has come up with a novel way to get to the office - by KAYAK .