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 trio of ants are locked in a tug of war over a fly as they pull the bug by its legs .
AIRPORT staff have been put on alert after diet pills that come in grenade shaped containers sparked security alerts .
ESCAPING A LANDFILL FUTURE, these amazing science fiction inspired sculptures are made from everyday objects .
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .
A toddler has shrugged off death an incredible 10 times thanks to his parents who revive him with the kiss of life every two weeks .
BURSTING colours of reds, pinks and purples give the illusion of a collection of stunning flowers .
LINED up one by one on a deer’s back, these little birds give their wings a break as they catch a ride across London .
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .
SWIMMING in unison, millions of silverside fish dwarf the divers .