BROC: Monster!!
COMM: Broc Brown is an incredible 7ft 8inches
tall. And at 18 years old, he may still be growing.
DARCI: Most men will stop growing at age
22, Broc is 18. The tallest man in the world is 8ft1’, I believe. He could be the tallest
man in the world eventually. This chair here is Broc’s chair. It was purchased, it was
about $1,000 and it’s called the ‘Big Man’s Chair.’
COMM: Broc’s excessive height comes from
Sotos Syndrome, a condition that neither of his parents has. It affects 1 in 15,000.
DARCI: I’d say Broc was about 5ft2’ when
he was in kindergarten. Around middle school he was about 6ft tall and then for high school
he was 7ft.
STACY SNYDER: They call him the ‘gentle
giant’ and he has a heart as big as gold.
DARCI: It’s a genetic disorder and there’s,
there’s nothing that can stop him from growing and I don’t know that he’ll ever stop.
BROC: I do get a lot hungry, I’m like a
bottomless pit.
DARCI: Hey Broc, do you want some more breakfast,
buddy? BROC: Yes.
DARCI: You not full yet? BROC: No.
DARCI: Second breakfast, fish sticks.
BROC: I need a drink.
DARCI: These are hot right now, ok?
BROC: I love me some good fish sticks!
COMM: Buying clothes is not straightforward
and he has to have his shoes specially made.
BROC: Sup Todd?
TODD HARDER: Hey, what’s up Broc? BROC: How you been man?
TODD HARDER: Doing all right! You doing all right?
BROC: Yeah, pretty good. TODD HARDER: Good to see you again. I’m
going to measure your feet again. We’re gonna do those, remember the drawings we do
for the shoes? Broc: Yeah.
TODD HARDER: Okay those I believe were…
BROC: 24. TODD HARDER: Were they 24s? Size 24, so we
were lucky to have Nike. A couple of years ago they made some special shoes for Broc,
because he had outgrown the biggest shoes they had which were the size that Shaq used
to wear. Here. There we go.
TODD HARDER: You got it? All right. That is
Broc feet, right there.
TODD HARDER: Let’s see.
BROC: About two of his. TODD HARDER: It’s not about two of mine.
Think so?
STACY SNYDER: He’ll take his picture with
anybody. Total strangers, we were in the gas station one day and they said “ Can I get
a picture with you?” So he got out of the car and got his picture taken. So, we just
know it’s going to taking longer sometimes.
COMM: Broc has a number of health complaints
including chronic back pain.
BROC: It hurts me to even say this, but it
kind of feels like a big tennis racket going right through my back. And the stuff I do
to make it to stop hurting don’t help. And it makes me feel like a needle going through it.
TODD HARDER: Yeah, that way you can breath easier.
DARCI: He has ADHD, ODD, which is Oppositional
Defiant Disorder and Intermittent Explosive Disorder. It could be very dangerous if he
wasn’t on medications and able to, you know, be calmed but yeah he, he’s big, lovable,
he’s like a big teddy bear.
COMM: As a teen, Broc was given an early death
prognosis, but recent doctors’ opinion is that he could live well into adulthood.
COMM: A future that Broc is determined to
make the most of.
BROC: I hopefully want to work for a sporting
goods store. Something like a cashier or something, have my own job.
DARCI: I don’t ever push him into doing
something he really doesn’t want to do. I just hope he has a good life and is happy with it.