Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror. She had every reason to be proud. In the space of a year, she had lost an incredible 17 stone. Her weight dropped from 37st 1lbs to 19st 7lbs, and she slipped into a dress before gazing at her newly svelte figure. With her smokey eye makeup and black skater dress, she could have been glamming up for a night on the tiles with her girlfriends. Instead, it was Halloween, 2013, and Ava was hiding a huge secret. Born a boy named William, it was the first time she had ever dressed as a girl – and everything fell into place.
A doting seal smiles at her sweet little pup as she tickles its tummy on the beach .
FINALLY catching a meal, a pair of great white egrets fight over their dinner .
A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy .
POWERFUL bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky in an incredible autumn storm over the Sardinian coastline .
A tiny puppy who lost his front legs after being hit by a train has been given and new LEASH of life with a set of wheels .
THIS astonishing film shows the moment a hit-and-run driver ploughed into a woman and a toddler on a Coventry street .
THIS DANGER-mad female pensioner could be the oldest Brit to cage dive with CROCODILES .
HOTSPOT MEDIA - FUNKY BUMP: FROM MIRROR bellies to rainbow bumps these pregnancy casts of stone and bronze could be the funkiest way to preserve your bump for posterity .
A KITTEN'S teaparty and rat's playing dominoes are the bizarre creations by one of Britain's great eccentrics pictured in an incredible new book .
This starling and prairie dog will not back down an inch as they have a fearsome stand-off over who gets to eat a nut .
The dog having been pulled from the car - A police officer smashed a window in the blue Chrysler car to free the dog which was in visible distress .
The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .