A mother searches the world for shoes that her 14-year-old son needs. He is 23 feet tall.
Like most moms, Rebecca Kilburn wants to provide her children with everything they need, including basic necessities like shoes.
That’s proving difficult for her 14-year-old son, Eric Jr. The teenager is – for now – a size 23 shoe and his mother is desperate for someone who can make shoes in that size at an affordable price.
“He’s still growing at 14,” she said. “Most kids that age that are that big and tall have an endocrine disorder and he doesn’t. He has no health issues with exponential growth.”
However, Eric Kilburn has health issues stemming from his inability to find the right shoe size. The 6ft, 10in freshman at Michigan’s Goodrich High School has endured six painful surgeries on his feet to repair ingrown toenails, which ultimately resulted in the permanent removal of the nails on his two largest toes.
He also sprained his ankle while playing on the junior varsity soccer team this fall, which might have been avoidable had he had cleats instead of just sneakers.
Eric hasn’t had cleats or snowshoes for Michigan winters for five years.
“It would mean everything just to have shoes that fit me,” said Eric.
Fall back on Crocs
When Eric was born, the obstetrician who delivered him reached out to her husband, Eric Sr., and told him their son had the biggest feet he’d ever seen on a newborn, Rebecca said. The doctor accurately predicted that her son’s feet would not fit in baby shoes.
Still, Rebecca, who is 6-2 years old, and Eric Sr., who is 6-5 years old, never anticipated the difficulties they would face when later finding shoes for their firstborn years.
By the time Eric Jr. was in first grade, his mother, who wears a women’s size 12, could already put her son’s shoes on to go to the mailbox. By the time he was in seventh grade, the size of his feet had become a serious problem. Rebecca recruited close friends and family to look for shoes in his then size 17 and larger sizes in anticipation of future growth.
Eric would later wear a pair of Crocs for two years when no other type of shoe could be found in his size.
He is currently wearing a size 22 trainer that doesn’t fit, found by a friend at a Nike outlet. At the time, Rebecca arranged for six more pairs in the same size to be purchased from the outlet for the bargain price of $25 a pair. All are too small now.
“We don’t make that size”
Rebecca has spent countless hours over the past year scouring the internet and calling shoe companies including Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Under Armor and Red Wing Shoes as well as independent shoemakers to find the next size she needs.
When Rebecca explains the required shoe size, she is met with disbelief and laughter. And a constant chorus of “We can’t make this size.”
Rebecca said she spoke to a Nike representative. She was told, “The only way you could have a size 22 is if it was made for a professional athlete and they didn’t use it and they ended up back in circulation.”
Hometown Life, part of the USA TODAY Network, reached out to Nike on Thursday, and a media outlet chuckled when told a customer was looking for a size 23 shoe. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Nike representative told Rebecca that the company would probably only make shoes for her son if he became a professional athlete. Eric dreams of playing in the NFL. But Rebecca wonders how that would even be possible when she can’t get Eric, who wants to play basketball as well as football, the right high school sports equipment.
A size 22, also the shoe size famous basketball player Shaquille O’Neal wears, is the largest size she’s found on a professional athlete, meaning her son even surpassed Shaq.
Eric’s size 22 has been professionally stretched but they are now painful and causing blisters. He needs at least size 23, possibly even size 24.
“There’s a Weight on My Heart”
Though he mostly enjoys being tall, Rebecca said Eric has had to grapple with living tall in a world that’s small-minded at times — from the fact that he can’t fit in regular seats on airplanes and rides, to to hurtful comments.
“He’s a wonderful kid and handles it well, but being big and standing out isn’t always a blessing,” Rebecca said.
It’s also not about having shoes that don’t fit.
“It’s frustrating that as a mother he can’t find shoes, which is such a basic need. I can’t find shoes for my teenager. What can I do when his feet grow?” she said.
Rebecca found a company in Italy that might be able to help. She will have Eric’s feet cast and ship them overseas. She doesn’t yet know how much that will cost.
In the meantime, she is going the only way she can currently find: made-to-measure shoes from orthopedic specialists. The sneaker-like shoes aren’t as cool as Eric’s size 22 Nikes, nor are they cheap at $1,500 a pair. The Kilburns’ Blue Cross insurance will not pay them, they said.
Fight for the world record
Enjoying the uncomfortable circumstances, Eric vies for the title of the teenager with the biggest hands and feet after submitting an application for the Guinness Book of World Records.
“I think my chances are pretty good,” said Eric.
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The current record appears to be held by Lars Motza, a German who was 16 in 2018 when his feet were measured at around 35 centimetres, putting him in shoe size US 21 (UK 20).
The world record attempt is part of the family’s effort to raise awareness of their unique mystery and find someone willing to make Eric shoes at an affordable cost.
“It’s a dream for him to have shoes, boots and cleats,” Rebecca said. “That would be wonderful … It is on my heart as a mother not to find such a basic need.”
Follow reporter Susan Bromley on Twitter @SusanBromley10.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Michigan mom searches the world for size 23 shoes for her 14-year-old son
