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.
WELCOME to the Temple of Zoom where you can “experience” sliding down a Mayan temple into shark infested waters .
Going for long rides through vast fields together, this twosome share an unbreakable bond .
Ever wished you could live in a house just like Barbie's? Canadian sculptor Heather Benning has created the life-size dollhouse of her dreams out a derelict building .
MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .
A disabled sheep is enjoying a new fleece of life after receiving a specially-designed wheelchair .
A lazy otter finds the ideal spot to soak up the sun and sleep off his lunch .
BREATHING life back into old photographs, these black and white images are transformed by colour .
THIS is the EXPLOSIVE moment when a 50 metre high pylon came crashing down to earth in a rural field .
These images of vintage cars, bikes and vans, pictured all over the world, could easily have come from a globetrotting petrol-head’s photo album .
HOTSPOT MEDIA - FUNKY BUMP: FROM MIRROR bellies to rainbow bumps these pregnancy casts of stone and bronze could be the funkiest way to preserve your bump for posterity .
A WIMBLEDON-mad couple will be creating a racket this summer - after installing a TENNIS COURT in their living room .
A couple celebrated tying the knot with a spectacular Alice in Wonderland-themed wedding reception .