TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A 10 YR OLD: TEENAGE GIRL BORN WITHOUT HORMONES

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.

Other great stories
OTTER FAMILY FIGHT

Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .

SQUIRRELS SQUABBLE OVER LUNCH

SQUABBLING over the last piece of grain, these hungry squirrels are determined to stock up on as much food as possible .

LEAPING WOOD MOUSE

LEAPING through the air this determined little mouse is on a mission for food .

ABANDONED PLAZA HOTEL

The beds are consumed by moss instead of customers at this abandoned hotel .

MISCHIEVOUS FOX CUBS

A mischievous fox cub demonstrates his playful side by biting his sibling’s tail .

OH DEER: MOMENT DEER CRASHES THROUGH WINDSCREEN OF BUS

With no luck at the front of the bus, the deer runs around the center seats trying to escape through the window – THIS is the astonishing moment a DEER crashed through the front windshield of a bus before it went hysterically running around the vehicle .

UNUSUAL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP

SAT ON top of a Brazilian turtle’s head, this little ladybird looks content as he studies his environment from a new height .

SLAM DUNK DA FISH

THIS is the incredible moment a pelican throws a fish into the air and SLAM DUNKS it into its enormous throat sack .

DOG SO CLOSE TO DEATH AFTER SWALLOWING NEEDLE

A dog was SOW close to death after she dangerously swallowed a two-inch NEEDLE-Cute Shih Tzu Daisy could have pierced her intestines after eating the long needle and thread after finding it on the carpet .

GIRAFFES DUCK FOR COVER

DIPPING and diving their way through this bumpy journey, these giraffe's duck for cover as they dodge multiple cables and wires .

INDONESIAN TRIBE UNTOUCHED BY MODERN LIFE

An Italian photographer travelled to the highlands of New Guinea where he met an Indonesian tribe untouched by the modern world .

MONKEY BATH

RAISING his foot into the air, this cheeky monkey offers an unusual wave .