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 .
SPLASHING around in a paddling pool, this little elephant soaks up the sunshine .
A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .
ARMED with her camera, bikini and flippers, this brave diver goes swimming with SHARKS .
Lying angelically with a range of expressions etched on their tiny faces, little bundles of joy are innocently captured in their first few days in these adorable photographs .
AN EXERCISING turtle and an ice-skating chick are hardly everyday exploits in the animal community .
An aerial view of flooding in Gloucestershire .
Pic By Graham Gibson/ HotSpot Media - SHARK HYPNOTIST BALANCES SHARK IN PALM OF HIS HAND- In Pic - Diver Tom and Caribbean reef sharks in the Bahamas- A SHARK hypnotist balances these predators in the palm of his hand by sending them to sleep with a gentle nose rub .
Throwing their arms up in the air, these energetic squirrels play a game of ball with a walnut .
Leaping out of the ocean, a group of gentoo penguins fly through the air before landing safely on an iceberg .
RACING through the mountain range on horseback, the Kazakh people practice their ancient tradition of hunting with golden eagles .
The view from this rooftop pool is sure to make most holidaymakers envious .