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.
SOME OF the sea’s most terrifying creatures show their softer side as they join a group of diners for lunch .
A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .
A chipmunk, with his cheeks full to bursting, has no intention of leaving with an empty stomach .
A pair of BEAUTIFUL rescue sea turtles spot their catch in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef .
Like a scene from a fairytale, THOUSANDS of fireflies create an enchanting glow as they dance in a forest .
The lighthouses of Brittany, from Brest to Le Conquet, stand tall on France’s north-western coast against stunning scenery .
PERCHED on a branch, these two frogs hold hands as they look into the camera .
USUALLY full to bursting, these London Underground stations stand silent and completely commuter free .
WELCOME to the drawing room that is home to the £100K world’s greatest collection of Margaret Thatcher autographed objects .
Daniel Blore, 21, of Innage Crescent, Bridgnorth, stabbed his mother three times in the attack on January 11 this year, Stafford Crown Court heard .
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 .
