Too tall for school: The 14-year-old Brazilian girl who at 6ft 9in cannot fit on the bus
It's hard standing out from the crowd when you are a teenager but few schoolchildren can claim to be more visible than Elisany Silva.
The 14-year-old measures an unbelievable 6ft 9in tall, making her one of the biggest teenagers in the world.
The pretty youngster is believed to be suffering from a rare disease which has caused her extreme growth.
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Tallest: Elisany Silva towers over her friends as they play on the beach in Braganca in the Brazilian Amazon state of Para. The 14-year-old cannot attend school because at 6ft 9in tall she is too big to sit on the bus
Sisters: Elisany lies on her bed with sister Talicia, 12, at their home. It is believed the 14-year-old is suffering from a disease of growth hormones.
Speaking from her home in the Brazilian Amazon state of Para, Elisany told a local television station how she was unable to go to school because she could not sit properly on the bus.
She added: 'It's hard when I'm inside home. I get distracted and hit the wood in the ceiling with my head.
Elisany lives in a small house with her sisters and mother Ana Maria Silva and step-father Luiz Jorge.
Her mother said: 'I want her to stop growing up, to be like the other girls because I know she feels weird and sometimes wants to be like them.'
A medical expert who was given details of her condition in Brazil without examining her said Elisany could be in danger of health problems.
He said he believed she was suffering from gigantism, in which the body produces excessive amounts of growth hormones.
Sister act: Elisany pictured with siblings Talicia and Eliza, right. The 6ft 9in teenager said she regularly hurts her head at their home
New Page 2 Determined: Elisany hopes to use her incredible height to become a model. She is pictured left with some dogs on the beach and right with sister Talicia
The expert said: 'She might have the symptoms of the disease, which may be the headache, vision problems, and death of some other glands, like the thyroid, adrenals and the ovaries.
'It might cause serious implications for her health and even death.'
It is thought that if her condition is left untreated, the 14-year-old could continue to grow at a rate of six inches a year.
The normal rate of growth for a child of her age is just a third of that amount.
Elisany now hopes to exploit her height and become a fashion model.
She said: 'I want to be a model very much.'
Some websites suggest she may soon achieve her dream, with one reporting that she was due to make her catwalk debut in Belem, Brazil, dressed as a bride.
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