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
MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED COTTAGE

THIS is the fascinating abandoned house, complete with mystery portraits and homely items, that has been dubbed - crooked cottage .

BABY WORKOUT

FROM a Kung-Fu professional to a mini incredible hulk, these are the babies you wouldn't want to mess with .

STUNNING INTERSTELLAR PATTERNS

IN a galaxy far, far away, this collection of stunning interstellar formations will leave you STARSTRUCK .

FRIENDLY TOAD READY FOR HIS CLOSE UP

STARING eagerly into the camera, this little toad is full of curiosity .

CHERYL LOOKALIKE SLAMS SKINNY-SHAMING PUBLIC

A Cheryl Fernandez-Versini lookalike has slammed skinny-shamers, after seeing her celebrity doppelganger abused for her tiny frame .

WOMAN SPENDS £10K TRANSFORMING INTO DISNEY PRINCESSES

Meet the real life princess who has spent £10k transforming herself into nine Disney beauties .

CHEEKY BABY GORILLA

THIS cheeky gorilla tries his best to wriggle free from his mum .

WOMAN LOSES 11ST AFTER £11K GASTRIC SLEEVE OP

A woman has shed half her body weight after undergoing a gastric sleeve op to shrink her stomach .

ELECTROSENSITIVITY: USING AN IPAD COULD MAKE ME MISCARRY AGAIN

A mother-to be has told how she cannot go near an iPad in case she suffers another miscarriage due to her intense sensitivity to electromagnetic waves .

HMS ARK ROYAL ARRIVES AT SHIP GRAVEYARD- LANGUISHING

HMS Ark Royal arrives in the Turkish port of Aliaga at the ship scrapping firm Leyal’s yard .

MISCHIEVOUS FOX CUBS

A mischievous fox cub demonstrates his playful side by biting his sibling’s tail .

SNOWCAP SQUIRREL

WITH A LITTLE cap of fresh snow resting on his head, this squirrel tries his best to pull off his new look .