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.
Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .
A BROWN bear wades through waters in Alaska and waits for his lunch .
ARM extended and head flung back, this little chipmunk performs a loose-limbed yoga move .
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .
A GLOWING range of greens and blues sweep across the sky in a spectacular display of light .
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
STARING intently into the camera, a polar bear appears to be lost in thought while relaxing in the snow .
A diver explores the crystal clear waters of the Silfra canyon in southern Iceland, which is the only place on Earth where you can dive or snorkel between two continental plates .
DINING under the stars, this restaurant takes you back in time - inside an ancient cave .
Peering curiously into a basket hanging off the arms of a snowman, this little squirrel appears fascinated by the snowy figure .
Swimming side by side with divers, these manatees will do anything they can to stay warm .
HUDDLED together in the hollow of a tree, it would be easy to overlook these two sleepy owls as they blend into the trunk .