future basketballer
Brenden's mother, Debbie, says he was born at a normal weight: 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Around the age of 4 months, Brenden's father, Willie, says they began noticing that Brenden was developing faster than other babies. "He had teeth, and his joints started showing a little bit more growth than other kids his size," he says.
"By the time Brenden was in kindergarten, he was the size of the fifth-grade students in school," Debbie says. At 7 years old, Brenden was already 5'4"?and doctors had no idea why.
Dr. Oz brings out a skeleton to compare the size of an average femur bone with the size of Brenden's femur. Besides his bones being much larger, Brenden has other visible signs of growth. "As you can see, Brenden's eyelids are so overgrown they cover half his eyes," Dr. Oz says. "He also had 12 extra teeth, which made his jaw larger."
After eight long years and test after test, doctors finally made a breakthrough. "A bone marrow test revealed that Brenden's excessive growth started in utero when one of his chromosomes broke off, flipped around and reattached," Dr. Oz says. "They say the odds of this happening are billions to one."
Finally, doctors were able to find a solution to Brenden's never-ending growth. "They induced your body into puberty by giving you testosterone," Dr. Oz says. "It was a very smart idea by them." It's worked so far?Brenden says he hasn't grown in the past six months. "You're not just a miracle because of your spirit?you're a miracle because you're alive," Dr. Oz says. "It's similar to flying a plane and the wing breaking off and then reconnecting upside down and you're still being able to stay on flight."