Florida never misses with its headlines. This time, a 15-year-old has come out as a one-man uprising against gravity. While doctors brushed off his early symptoms for years, they’ve finally caught up with reality as he’s almost as tall as the tallest teen in the world now.
A resident of Naples, Florida, Gabriel Yates was already towering over half the town when he hit puberty at 13 years old. He was quietly enjoying the fame of being the tallest in class for years and drew eyes from everyone. But soon enough, he began to wonder if he’s simply tall or there’s something his doctors have been comfortably overlooking.
The teen then turned to the internet and suspected that he might have gigantism. So, his family reached out to doctors to clear the doubt. Yet, they declared “it wasn’t a possibility” and brushed his concerns off. Tara Sargent, Yates’ mother, revealed that she believed them since “it didn’t get crazy until he hit puberty when he was 12, 13” (via People).
But by the time Yates turned 15, his parents were measuring him in disbelief. He was seven-feet-two and still climbing. So, the doctor finally admitted, “This is getting a little out of hand,” and referred them to an endocrinologist, “just to make sure nothing else is going on.” And sure enough, something else was going on. Yates had been right in his suspicions all along.
It was revealed in April 2025 that Yates had three times the normal growth hormone level and was diagnosed with Gigantism. He had a grape-sized pituitary tumor pressing on his optic nerve, which causes the rare condition. The family rushed to treat the tumor, and it was successfully removed at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Florida in mid-August.
For Yates, the diagnosis was both terrifying and relieving:
“I was kind of relieved because I thought I was just a very unathletic person without an excuse. I could never keep up with the other kids. I ran out of breath so quickly — and now I know why.”
While the procedure helped slow his growth, the effects of living with gigantism are lifelong. “There are quite a few treatments, but it’s tough to cure it. People are on treatment pretty much all their life,” Dr. Vibha Singhal at UCLA revealed. Yates still faces daily challenges from finding clothes to ducking under door frames.
Thankfully, a local charity in Florida, called Laces of Love, reached out and donated specially sized shoes for the teenager. And despite the medical hurdles, Yates’ attitude has turned him into a bit of a local legend. That is in part owed to his family and friends, who’ve been nothing but supportive. “They were all very supportive. I talked to them a lot while I was in the hospital,” he said.
Sargent also revealed that her son has been handling it better than her. “Throughout this whole process, he’s been amazing, a lot better than I have. He’s been calm, I’ve cried hysterically,” she said. While the teen is now back to school and enjoying his acting hobby, he’s turning 16 this week and worries about driving.
“It’s just that things aren’t made for people like me, so I’ve got to adapt,” he opened up. Yate has now become a symbol for resilience in Florida. His parents have launched a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $5,000. Their goal is to spread awareness about this rare condition, which still has only a recorded number of cases in the hundreds.
