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
PEEKABOO SQUIRRELS EMERGE FROM THEIR NEST
SQUEEZING their furry faces through a hole in a tree, a trio of curious baby squirrels leave their nest for the first time to explore their surroundings .
WOMAN DISCOVERS PREGNANCY…AS HER BABY BEGINS CROWNING
A support worker was stunned to discover she was eight months pregnant after she was rushed to hospital with 'stomach cramps' .
POLAR BEARS HAVE A SPLASHING TIME
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
THE F-ANT-ASTIC ARTISTS
Exibiting their superhuman strength these ants look ready to create an art attack by lifting pencils several thousand times their own weight .
A LOT OF BOTTLE: ARTIST PAINTS PICTURE USING JUST COKE
This artist had a lot of bottle to re-create a masterpiece painted with nothing but 24 litres of cola .
NO ONE CAN BELIEVE MY HUNKY BOYFRIEND USED TO BE A GIRL
A woman was left shocked after her hunky boyfriend confessed he was actually born a GIRL .
BACKFLIPPING SHARK SOARS DURING SEAL HUNT
Exploding out of the water, a great white shark performs a backflip during a hunt for seals .
FIGHTING FOXES
A pair of snarling foxes go paw-to-paw and brawl after unexpectedly crossing paths .
OWNER PREVENTED FROM FINDING CAT UNDER DATA PROTECTION ACT
A mother has spoken of her outrage after discovering her missing cat had been stolen - only to be told she cannot have its location due to the Data Protection Act .
CUTEST PICTURES OF PUPPIES AND BABY EVER
HEART-MELTING shots of a French bulldog and a ten-month-old French baby could be the cutest you’re likely to see .
GOING BALLISTIC - 15 FOOT RED BALL ARTIST
This is the crazy art project that is going ballistic - placing a huge squishy 15ft red ball into tight spaces .
GIANT CANYON SWING
FORGET Thorpe Park this summer as this is a 50 mile-per-hour ride over the Colorado River CANYON .