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.
SITTING quietly at the edge of the lake, these two baby bears watch and learn as the adults hunt for fish .
The lighthouses of Brittany, from Brest to Le Conquet, stand tall on France’s north-western coast against stunning scenery .
A striped marlin means business as it spots lunch and spears a small fish .
With the vivid red smoke billowing into the sky amid the misty sand dunes, these are the blissful views provided at the break of dawn at a volcano .
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
WELCOME to what could be the world's tallest TOTALLY wooden construction .
Sitting all alone on drift ice in the Arctic Ocean, this lonely little fella looks lost .
WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .
SNUGGLED up in the hay away from the elements, this adorable hoglet has sought solace with a familiar friend .
MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .
THIS is the fascinating abandoned house, complete with mystery portraits and homely items, that has been dubbed - crooked cottage .