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 unique business in Birkenhead, Merseyside is sure to leave you HALF-CUT with its unusual pub and barbers combination .
PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .
SWIMMING next to 40 tonne whales, dare-devil divers take the plunge with these gentle giants of the sea .
A tiny puppy who lost his front legs after being hit by a train has been given and new LEASH of life with a set of wheels .
BASKING in smug satisfaction, a confident squirrel gives a wink to the camera .
SPURTING water 20ft into the air, this is one well you wouldn't want to dip your bucket into .
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .
The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .
A hypnotherapist filmed himself sexually abusing a 19-year-old patient while she was in a trance-like state .
USUALLY full to bursting, these London Underground stations stand silent and completely commuter free .
TOWERING 65 metres into the sky, this terrifying accent is a dream for climbers .
HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers .