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.
Destroyed buildings and overturned cars are seen after a huge tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City, May 20, 2013 .
JUDGE BLASTED FOR LETTING PAEDO WALK FREE A PERVERT who sexually assaulted two young girls on an allotment, telling them he was brushing spiders off them, has walked free from court – because jailing him was ‘unfair’ on his family .
A puppy bit off more than he could chew when he stole a six inch Chinese spare rib from his owner and swallowed it WHOLE, Cheeky Staffordshire bull terrier Rossi had his life SPARED when he underwent a life-saving operation to remove the bone from his stomach after swiping part of the takeaway meal .
At least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .
A photographer has captured spellbinding images of stars swirling above the English countryside .
SQUEEZING their furry faces through a hole in a tree, a trio of curious baby squirrels leave their nest for the first time to explore their surroundings .
AN ARRAY of colours, from pinks to blues and oranges, fill the night sky to create an amazing collection of interstellar patterns .
WITH a paw in the air and his tongue hanging from his mouth, it is clear to see that this little groundhog is struggling to wake up and leave behind the comfort of his burrow .
HUDDLING under a leaf, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls take shelter from the rain .
Swimming side by side with divers, these manatees will do anything they can to stay warm .
THIS may look like a dolphin through jumping hoops, but it is in fact nothing more than a clever 3D pencil drawing .
