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 photographer has travelled the length of the UK capturing lighthouses and their picturesque surroundings .
WELCOME to what could be the world's tallest TOTALLY wooden construction .
A luxury caravan with a price tag of ONE MILLION DOLLARS is due to hit the road later this year .
A cricket perches on an unusual seat after crawling up the snout of a crocodile .
SPLASHING in the water and fighting in-between rocks, these energetic tigers enjoy their fun-filled morning .
FINALLY catching a meal, a pair of great white egrets fight over their dinner .
A SPECTRUM of colours fills the sky during this spectacular and natural display of light .
A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned .
THESE kaleidoscopic-like photographs capture England’s churches and cathedrals in all their glory .
BREATHING life back into old photographs, these black and white images are transformed by colour .
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .
FROM the rolling hills of the Scottish highlands to looming chalk cliffs in Sussex, these stunning photographs capture the spectacular beauty of Great Britain .