STRETCHING his little legs in the air, a smiley leaf-tailed gecko breaks free from his old, scaly skin .

When Louise Steen walked down the aisle, she imagined a perfect future with her older hubby – but her life would soon become a living hell .

From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .

Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror .

Lying angelically with a range of expressions etched on their tiny faces, little bundles of joy are innocently captured in their first few days in these adorable photographs .

A brave cricket takes his chances as he sits on top of this green papua tree frog .

WITH the phosphorescent blobs and mesmerising patterns, these spectacular images may look like the hall marks of an enchanted forest but it is in fact the scene of thousands of dancing FIREFLIES .

AT first glance these images could easily be mistaken for photographs, but they are in-fact real life drawings created using nothing but coloured pencils .

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

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 .

A young woman has told how she has been robbed of her fertility and now faces an uncertain future after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of just 22 .

Meet the real-life Little Bo Peep - a young woman who spends her days tending to her four pet SHEEP .