Britain’s tallest teenager who lives in Suffolk is planning to reach new heights when he leaves school - and become a pro basketball player with a top US team.
The gangly 15-year-old is already 6ft 11ins - or 209 centimetres - tall and is already winning cups and medals for his towering performance in the sport in this country and is expected to make a national side soon.
But Brandon Marshall admits there is a downside to being lofty - he has to duck to get through every doorway at his home in Bury St Edmunds and the specially large shoes he has to have for sport cost more than £130 a pair while mum Lynne has to hunt for trousers that are long enough in the leg.
But he says he can reach stuff from high shelves and can look over the heads in crowds.
“I get plenty of stares but I have got used to it by now,” said Brandon.
“My mates just accept the fact that I am taller than them.
“I have been playing basketball since I was ten and being my height gives me a great advantage over shorter players. I can out-reach and out-stretch most of my opponents.”
Lynne, 48 said: “He was an average baby but had particularly long fingers and feet.
“He grew normally for the first few years then began shooting up in real spurts. Tests showed that he is missing chromosome 12, known as the height cropper chromosome.
But the doctors have estimated that he is still likely to get taller and could end up at 7ft 2ins by the time he is 18.
“His father is 6ft 10ins and one of his older brothers is well over six feet so we are a tall family.
“I know Brandon is unusual but he’s really just like any other teenager and spend a lot of time on computer gamers.”
Brandon added: “I hope to get spotted by a talent scout and given the chance to go to America where the sport is much bigger. It would be a dream to become a pro player.”
The tallest person in the world is Sultan Kosen, from Turkey, who measures 8ft 3in tall. He is 35 years old.
But the record for the tallest person ever recorded remains Robert Wadlow, from Illinois, USA, who was 8ft 11in. He died in July 1940, and was buried in a coffin which was 10ft 9in long.
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