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Seven Foot Brit May Be the Tallest Teen In The World

Seven Foot Brit May Be the Tallest Teen In The World

Sixteen-year-old Brandon Marshall has unsurprisingly been picked for the Welsh national basketball team

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden

Everyone remembers how awkward it was having a growth spurt as a teenager. But one British 16-year-old has had a growth spurt to rival them all - standing at an amazing 7 feet 4 inches - and counting.

Believed to be the current tallest teen in the world, Brandon Marshall, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, is still growing. Impressively, he's also just been picked for the Welsh national basketball team.

WATCH BRANDON PLAYING BASKETBALL BELOW:

Brandon's mum, 49-year-old Lynne Quelch, said: "I can't believe he's still growing. It is crazy, walking down the road with Brandon. People stop him, asking for photos with him. To be honest I don't know what height he is going to reach.

"He is so shy as well, bless him, he is so introvert. When people notice his height, he says, 'Oh, here we go again, yes I am tall. Yes, I am Britain's tallest teenager.'"

SWNS

Brandon already became Britain's tallest teenager last year when he grew to 6 foot 11 inches. However, he's now grown another five inches and is now believed to be the tallest in the world.

The previous holder of the record was Broc Brown, a 7' 8" American teen who turned 20 last year.

Brandon said: "I was normal size up until the age of nine. I then had a big growth spurt. I was about six foot when I was about 13 and I started to grow a lot more by then.

"When I was in Year Nine I got to 6' 7 " and in Year 10 I got to seven foot. Shoes have always been a problem because I will never be able to find them and they are really expensive."

SWNS

Brandon, whose mates call him Tiny - of course - currently trains three times a week with his local team Bury Bulldogs and qualifies for the Welsh national basketball team as his mother is Welsh.

Brandon's now training for his first professional match while completing his GCSEs. He hopes to head to a college with a good basketball academy so he can complete his A-Levels and continue his development.

Despite his professional success, due to his height Brandon struggles with everyday tasks and has to eat over 8,000 calories a day to stay healthy.

His mum and step-dad are currently arranging a bespoke bed to made for him - although they admit they need to extend his bedroom to fit it in.

Lynne said: "He does tend to struggle with roofs, ceilings, doorways - just everything normal size people take for granted. He has got a super king bed at the moment but we are having one made for him.

"It is £1,000 ($1,400) to make and it is two doubled together which will give him an eight foot in length bed. We are having it specially made for him and he will be able to have a bit in the middle that can extend to a nine foot bed if he carries on growing."

SWNS

Geneticists at Addenbrooke's hospital in nearby Cambridge are looking into why exactly Brandon is continuing to grow, having already ruled out Marfan syndrome - a genetic disorder that makes people tall and thin with long extremities.

Previous tests have shown that he is missing chromosome 12, known as the 'height cropper' chromosome, but according to Lynne, docs remain 'a bit baffled' by Brandon's condition.

"I think he has just got a mixture of large genes in him," she said.

Brandon does come from a fairly tall family - his mum is 5' 11" and his dad is 6' 10" - but he isn't challenging the national or global tallest man records yet.

Currently, the tallest man in Britain is Paul Sturgess, who stands at 7' 7", while the world's tallest man is American Robert Pershing Wadlow who is a whopping 8' 11". At this rate, Brandon could still beat them yet.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: UK News, News, Teenager