When Eric Kilburn was in kindergarten, he noticed he was much bigger than the other kids. By the time he was in fifth grade, he couldn't shop for shoes in regular stores, and finding gloves his size also became a challenge. The Michigan 16-year-old now claims feet that are 13.5 inches long (he wears a size 23 shoe; the average for US men is around a size 8 1/2 or 9) and hands that stretch 9.13 inches—both of which have earned him a place in the Guinness World Records rankings, reports the Guardian.
In a 2023 interview with USA Today, Eric's mom, Rebecca Kilburn (who's 6'2" herself; her husband is 6'5"), noted that her son didn't have any endocrine issues or other conditions that are tied to such growth. Per Guinness, once she had to start buying him expensive custom-made shoes in middle school that cost more than $1,500 a pair, she began wondering if her son might be world-record material—which in turn might lead to companies making some more shoes for him. Eric applied to Guinness when he was 14, when he already stood 6 feet, 10 inches tall (he's grown an inch or so since), and sure enough, Puma and Under Armour came forward with offers of new shoes and boots.
It turns out one person in particular may have been prescient about Eric's future Guinness feat: the obstetrician who delivered him. Eric tells Guinness that, when he was born, the elderly doctor told his mom and dad that the newborn's feet and hands were the largest he'd ever seen on a just-born baby. Today, Eric, who loves gaming and looks up to basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal, is proud of his oversize appendages, and he wants others who may feel different from the pack to take pride in themselves. "It's OK to stand out," he says, per Guinness. "Don't let negativity distract you from your goals." More here on Eric's journey, including the joint pain he suffers and on his correspondence with O'Neal, who helped him through some of what Rebecca Kilburn calls the "darkness." (More Guinness World Records stories.)
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