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.
COVERING themselves in ash and face paint, these are the holy men who live their lives away from everyday society .
FISTS fly as two gorillas take each other on in a dramatic battle .
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - 250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM- In Pic - The start line on the Heartlands Parkway Nechels Birmingham .
More weather chaos is heading our way, with ice and snow already hitting areas across Birmingham .
COULD this be the most distastrous wedding cake fail EVER? Most brides opt for a traditional tiered white wedding cake decorated with delicate pink roses and lace for their big day .
A young girl has been forced to stay indoors this winter because a rare allergy to the cold could kill her .
A PENSIONER was left with a fractured jaw after being beaten and robbed outside his home in Birmingham last weekend .
THIS RING of fire in the sky is the annular solar eclipse that wowed our cousins down-under .
MAKING himself at home, this little snail perches happily on top of this frog's head .
Something appears to have tickled this baby owl as he seems to be having a real HOOT .
A Zumba-mad grandma has lost almost 14st after becoming addicted to the popular dance craze .