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
AIR-MAZING MCDONALD’S – AEROPLANE TRANSFORMED INTO FAST FOOD RESTAURANT
Diners on this aeroplane are never disappointed with their meal, because the decommissioned aircraft is now home to an air-mazing McDonald’s restaurant .
AMAZING LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHY
STRIKING photos capture nature at its most raw and powerful during Earth’s most electrifying event .
GIRL BEATS ANOREXIA AFTER MUM PLANS FUNERAL
A teenager has beaten anorexia after becoming so ill that her mum planned her funeral .
ADORABLE CHIMP SHOWS OFF GYMNASTIC SKILLS
WITHOUT a care in the world, this little chimpanzee shows off her gymnastic skills as she swings around her enclosure .
THE LITTLE MER-WIFE: DISNEY-THEMED WEDDING CREATES A SPLASH
It’s the must-have for any true Disney fan: a Little Mermaid themed wedding .
CHEEKY BABY ORANGUTAN
CLIMBING, falling and tugging on his weary mum, this little orangutan is up to all kinds of trouble .
NAKED AMBITION: WORLD’S LARGEST SKINNY DIP
Bathers on a New Zealand beach stripped naked and took to the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to shatter the record for the world's largest skinny dip .
FRIENDLY TOAD READY FOR HIS CLOSE UP
STARING eagerly into the camera, this little toad is full of curiosity .
BABY-FACED BURGLAR NABBED BY JAFFA CAKE
A BABY-faced burglar is starting a seven year stretch in custody after being nabbed by a Jaffa Cake .
HUNDREDS OF HOT AIR BALLOONS DECORATE TURKISH SKY
HUNDREDS of hot air balloons decorate the sky above Turkey as the rising sun illuminates the spectacular scenery below .
WOMAN REVEALS HER 9-MONTH-OLD DAUGHTER SUFFERED HORRIFIC BURNS TO 20% OF HER BODY AFTER KNOCKING SCALDING BOTTLE WARMER OVER HERSELF AT DAYCARE
A mother-of-three has revealed how her nine-month-old daughter was severely burnt after knocking a scalding bottle warmer over herself at daycare .
SNOWY SQUIRRELS PLAY A GAME OF BALL
Throwing their arms up in the air, these energetic squirrels play a game of ball with a walnut .