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.
A SERENE turquoise glow glimmers from underneath these powerful icebergs .
SNUGGLED up in the hay away from the elements, this adorable hoglet has sought solace with a familiar friend .
A trio of ants are locked in a tug of war over a fly as they pull the bug by its legs .
A Canadian couple celebrated their engagement by recreating iconic moments from the film The Notebook .
Megan Brailsford, 32, from Cambridgeshire, met Daniel Dugdale, 29, in September 2020 .
Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .
A unique business in Birkenhead, Merseyside is sure to leave you HALF-CUT with its unusual pub and barbers combination .
A mischievous fox cub demonstrates his playful side by biting his sibling’s tail .
This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .
Peering curiously into a basket hanging off the arms of a snowman, this little squirrel appears fascinated by the snowy figure .
Sam Notaro built his own flood defences to protect his four-bedroom home in Moorland, Somerset Flooding is likely to get worse around Somerset as groundwater levels continue to rise .