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.
MAKING himself at home, this little snail perches happily on top of this frog's head .
SITTING quietly at the edge of the lake, these two baby bears watch and learn as the adults hunt for fish .
A once bustling gold rush town in Mono County, California now stands completed deserted .
THIS is the incredible moment a pelican throws a fish into the air and SLAM DUNKS it into its enormous throat sack .
SPURTING water 20ft into the air, this is one well you wouldn't want to dip your bucket into .
THE THOUGHT OF BECOMING shipwrecked on a remote destination would fill most holidaymakers with dread .
STARING intently into the camera, a polar bear appears to be lost in thought while relaxing in the snow .
INSIDE Britain's last Naval hospital where scurvy was cured looks like an NHS time capsule .
Throwing a right hook as he launches onto his opponent with his gnarling teeth at the ready, this is the OTTER-LY ruthless showdown between two otters .
WITHOUT A care in the world, this little snow monkey puts his feet up and settles in for a snooze .
Kevin Silva, 52 from Indiana in the USA, has spent an estimated £65K ($100K) on Batman trinkets over the years, and even keeps his 2,500-item haul in his very own basement 'Bat Cave' .
Swirling water and sand create amazing aerial images of river deltas across Iceland .