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.
SITTING in the middle of a vast desert, an abandoned cinema is still waiting for its first movie to be screened .
ROLLING across a 65-metre-high viaduct in the Alps, the red carriages of the Bernina Express add a splash of colour to the spectacular snow-covered Swiss surroundings .
A fox takes a tumble and lands on his head when he tries to fend off a pair of eagles in Japan .
Pic By HotSpot Media - PARROT RIDES ON THE TUBE - THIS pretty boy could be forgiven for forgetting his Oyst-aaarrrgh-card .
This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .
AN ANGRY giraffe gave a bush-riding cyclist a scare when he stomped his £2K bike into the dirt .
The dog having been pulled from the car - A police officer smashed a window in the blue Chrysler car to free the dog which was in visible distress .
ROLLING up snow in its tiny paws, this little squirrel is looking for a snowball fight .
A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned .
A BABY-faced burglar is starting a seven year stretch in custody after being nabbed by a Jaffa Cake .
SURROUNDED by a snowstorm, these young polar bears battle the elements - as well as each other .