She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl. Unlike other 17-year-olds, Poppy is more interested in Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber than wearing make-up, experimenting with boys or staying out late. This is due to a rare condition which means she was born without any hormones, meaning she has never gone through puberty, never had a growth spurt and never thrown a teenage tantrum. To many parents of teenagers, Poppy must sound like the perfect child, but unbeknown to her or her mother Karen Webb-Meek, her condition posed a deadly risk to her health throughout her whole childhood. Poppy was born with a condition called panhypopituitarism meaning she lacks most of the hormones essential for life. Hypopituitarism is the decreased secretion of one or more of the eight hormones normally produced by the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. If there is decreased secretion of most pituitary hormones, the term panhypopituitarism (pan meaning "all") is used. Poppy has no growth hormone, meaning her bones stopped growing around the age of 11, and she has no thyroxine, which regulates the metabolism and energy levels. In addition she has no oestrogen, which controls the onset of puberty and the development of secondary sexual characteristics.
RACING down the slopes in her tiny ski gear, this TWO-YEAR-OLD girl has already mastered the art of skiing .
FORGET Thorpe Park this summer as this is a 50 mile-per-hour ride over the Colorado River CANYON .
Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .
This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .
These adorable pictures show the moment two cuddly red panda cubs take their first look at the outside world and are weighed for the very first time .
SOME OF the sea’s most terrifying creatures show their softer side as they join a group of diners for lunch .
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .
With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .
This may look like a monster car engine that will leave petrol heads in a spin, but it is in fact a rather snazzy looking COFFEE MACHINE .
An Australian beach is illuminated by an enticing neon blue glow as a rare phenomenon lights up the water .
WELCOME to the Temple of Zoom where you can “experience” sliding down a Mayan temple into shark infested waters .
A mischievous fox cub demonstrates his playful side by biting his sibling’s tail .