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.
STRETCHING his little legs in the air, a smiley leaf-tailed gecko breaks free from his old, scaly skin .
NEW DELHI, A woman activist of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party crosses a police barricade near the residence of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi during a protest against the recent rape of a five-year-old girl in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2013 .
Hot on the heels of a little rabbit, this cheetah is on a mission to catch his prey .
A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .
BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
YOU’VE heard of the northern lights now feast your eyes on the natural wonder of the SOUTHERN lights .
A mining town in Australia’s outback appears to be completely deserted, but its residents have escaped the scorching heat by living in underground caves .
As sunlight cascades through its vibrant stained glass windows, every inch of the Nasir-ol-Mulk Mosque bursts with colour .
A cricket perches on an unusual seat after crawling up the snout of a crocodile .
SAILING over crystal clear waters, the Bajau people of Malaysia live their lives almost entirely at SEA .
SITTING quietly at the edge of the lake, these two baby bears watch and learn as the adults hunt for fish .