7ft 4in Brandon is world’s tallest teen
(and to top it all he’s still growing)
A 16-YEAR-OLD British lad is being hailed as the world’s tallest teenager – at a lofty 7ft 4in.
Brandon Marshall – who doctors say is still growing – has just fulfilled his sporting dream and been picked for the Welsh national basketball team.
His mum Lynne Quelch, 49, said: “It is crazy, walking down the road with Brandon. People stop him, asking for photos with him.
“He is so shy as well, bless him. When people notice his height, he says, ‘Oh here we go again’.”
Brandon, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, hit the headlines last year when he grew to 6ft 11in to become Britain’s tallest teenager.
He has now grown an extra five inches in less than a year and is believed to be the tallest teen in the world.
Former record holder, 7ft 8in American Broc Brown, turned 20 last year.
Brandon, whose pals call him “Tiny”, said: “I was normal size up till the age of nine. I then had a big growth spurt.
Expensive
“I was about 6ft when I was about 13. When I was in year nine I got to 6ft 7in and in year 10 I got to 7ft.”
Brandon trains with national league team Bury Bulldogs but has now been selected for the Welsh national basketball team as his mother is from Wales.
He is currently training for his first professional match and will be jetting off to Lithuania next month.
Brandon is still studying for his GCSEs and is looking for basketball academies where he will be able to complete his A-levels.
He may have been able to slam-dunk a basketball from the age of 13 but at 7ft 4in and with size 17 feet, everyday living can be complicated.
“Shoes have always been a problem,” he said. “I will never be able to find them and they are really expensive.”
Lynne said: “He does tend to struggle with roofs, ceilings, doorways – just everything normal-size people take for granted. He has a super-king bed but we are having one made that is two doubled together which will give him an eight foot bed.”
Because of his size, Brandon must consume 8,000 calories a day and tucks into toasted sandwiches and microwave snacks in between meals.
Lynne said: “I am constantly shopping to keep the fridge stocked.”
Lynne, 5ft 11in, and Brandon’s biological father – who was 6ft 10in – split shortly after Brandon was born.
But none of his siblings – Zak, 30, Zoe, 25, and 12-year-old Jordan – have reached such dramatic heights.
Specialists at Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital found he is missing chromosome 12, which is known to affect how tall we grow.
Lynne said: “His height gene is mutated so they are looking into it further because it has only ever been seen once before.
“They said about four months ago he will only grow about 5cm [2in] but he is still going. I think he has just got a mixture of large genes in him.
“Everyday-wise, he just gets on with it. He just has to bend through everything so he doesn’t clonk his head.”
Paul Sturgess is currently Britain’s tallest man at 7ft 7in. According to Guinness World Records the world title is held by 8ft 3in Turk Sultan Kosen.