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.
Here's a collection of art for the DIGIT-AL age as these fascinating illusions of landmarks, places and even a banana are made using just a pair of hands .
WITHOUT A care in the world, this little snow monkey puts his feet up and settles in for a snooze .
A mining town in Australia’s outback appears to be completely deserted, but its residents have escaped the scorching heat by living in underground caves .
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for this greedy camel he can't get enough of his morning feed, as he gate crashes his owner's mealtime .
DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .
FLYING through the air, these delighted pooches pull their best poses mid-flight .
WHETHER FLOATING through space or diving underwater, a lucky baby boy enjoys once in a life time experiences - in his DREAMS .
A photographer has captured stunning photographs of the Milky Way above picturesque landscapes in the UK and Italy .
A brave praying mantis makes an unusual friend in an Oriental garden lizard .
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
