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 DETERMINED great blue heron holds on tightly to its prey as the furry gopher attempts to wriggle free .
THIS LITTLE squirrel tries to keep himself snug as snow starts to fall around him .
FLAUNTING its new accessory, a fashionable green dumpy tree frog poses for the camera while wearing a SNAIL as a hat .
Peering curiously into a basket hanging off the arms of a snowman, this little squirrel appears fascinated by the snowy figure .
WELCOME to the Temple of Zoom where you can “experience” sliding down a Mayan temple into shark infested waters .
In the calm waters of Greenland, gigantic icebergs dwarf everything around them .
TUGGING at his exhausted mum's ears, a beautiful baby orangutan refuses to settle for a nap as he begins a game of peek-a-boo .
An Indonesian farmer is dragged through muddy water as he clings to the tails of two charging cows .
WITH SNOW COVERING the ground around them, these two polar bears play fight .
EXPERTLY camouflaged, this clever panther chameleon knows how to catch its prey by surprise .
With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .