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
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' .

SEALED WITH A BUBBLE KISSED

MEET the underwater British seal who is so friendly he loves to grapple divers like a friendly puppy dog .

REAL LIFE VICTORIAN

A woman has taken her house back in time - by spending £10,000 to transform it into her Victorian dream home .

BOY WHOSE BRAIN GREW IN NOSE IS REAL-LIFE PINOCCHIO

A little boy whose brain grew inside his nose has been described as the 'real-life Pinocchio' by his proud mum .

WOMAN REVEALS HER ONE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER SUFFERED BURNS TO 22% OF HER BODY AFTER POURING BOILING MAC N’ CHEESE WATER OVER HERSELF

A mum-of-one has revealed how her one-year-old daughter suffered second and third degree burns to 22% of her body after pouring boiling water over herself .

STRANDED MOOSE RESCUED FROM FROZEN LAKE

A terrified moose, trapped in a frozen lake, bobs her head above the icey water and awaits her rescue .

MY SLEEPING BEAUTY NIGHTMARE

MEET the real life sleeping beauty - who snoozed for TWO months when a rare sleep disorder took over her life and turned it into a nightmare .

EYE PAINTER

MEET the painter who makes his living squirting paint from his EYES .

BATTY ABOUT BATMAN - MAN SPENDS £65K ON COLLECTION

Kevin Silva, 52 from Indiana in the USA, has spent an estimated £65K ($100K) on Batman trinkets over the years, and even keeps his 2,500-item haul in his very own basement 'Bat Cave' .

WOMAN BEATS BDD BY BECOMING UNDERWEAR MODEL

A woman who suffered from body dysmorphic disorder has overcome her illness by becoming a LINGERIE MODEL .