Teenage girl has size 14 feet!

Shoe shopping is quite the chore for 19-year-old Emma Cahill. She has the biggest feet in Europe and has to buy high heels made for men for a night out.

The teenager from Worcester - who is studying at Oxford Brooks University - is a whopping shoe size 14, and can only buy shoes from one shop in Germany.

Her large tootsies are double the UK women's average size seven, and getting shoes to fit is so tricky, that Emma only owns one pair of high heels - used by drag queens and transvestites.

"I think I've got the biggest feet in Europe, which makes it impossible to find shoes that fit," says Emma. "I own one pair of stilettos - but they're made for transvestites and not very classy. I dream of owning a pair of Louboutins."

In her heels, 6ft 5in Emma is a strapping 7ft and says men are too intimidated to chat her up:

"Although I love being tall, I've only been approached once in a club - and that was by a man who was taller than me. Besides our mutual height, we didn't have much in common. I'd rather date a man who is taller than me, but I realise that I may be raising the bar too high."

Emma regularly has trouble fitting into cars, and bangs her head on door frames. She is even considering putting pipe insulator on the frames in her home to prevent injury.

Meanwhile Emma's 13 inch long feet, which are bigger than a foot long Subway sandwich and larger than England striker Peter Crouch's, pose problems in the wardrobe department.

"The biggest issue is finding shoes that fit me. I love shoes and it's so hard getting ones I like," says Emma.


From the age of nine Emma wore a bigger-than-average size nine - the same size feet as her mum Jane, 49. Up to the age of 14 she grew a shoe size every year. Much to her relief, her feet have now stopped growing.

Emma, whose dad Andrew, 49, is a size 14 and sister Jenni, 15, is a 10, says her feet don't look that big because they are in proportion with her height.

Finding clothes that fit is also a constant battle for Emma, who is often forced to wear leggings underneath dresses since the garments come up too short on her. Trousers are out of the question, so three-quarter length jeans with a long top are Emma's go-to outfit. She is limited to just one pair of shoes for evenings out.

For the last six years she has sported a gold pair of pumps bought from an American website which has since gone out of business. Emma has re-heeled the shoes three times, and even has to re-paint them with gold fabric paint three times a year.

"I try to keep up with the trends, but when you have to base an outfit around the same pair of shoes, it's not easy," says Emma.

"I don't know what I'll do when they finally give in - I guess I'll have to plan another trip to the shop in Germany. Last time I went, when I was 13 years old, I was a size 13, but my feet have grown so I've stretched the shoes.

"The shop only stocks up to a size 13, but the shoemaker says he can make footwear especially for me in a size 14. He's my only hope."

We knew children's feet were getting bigger, but....