13 Years Old, 2 Metres Tall: Dutch Teen’s Operation to Make Him Shorter


A Dutch teenager has undergone an operation in Veldhoven after his height became a tall order to overcome. Yannick Pinas stood at 2.15 metres tall despite only just breaking into his teenage years. After the operation, he dropped 7 centimetres (where did they go? Can I have them?).

The tall 13-year-old knew he was short-changed in the height department when his towering stature started making it impossible for him to complete everyday tasks – like going through doors without stooping, flying on airplanes, or going on a long car ride. Now, thanks to his operation, he’ll stand 7 centimetres shorter.

The now 2.08 meter-tall teen had an operation on his growth discs just above the knee and in his feet. Despite sounding like a dramatic last resort, the operation lasted only an hour – and he could go home the very next day. Now he can go through a standard 2.11 door without putting his posture (or brain cells) at risk.

It’s unsurprising that this teen was headed for big heights – his father stands at 1.98 metres and his mother is above average at 1.78. His mother says that his nine-year-old sister may need a similar operation later in life as she is growing fast with no sign of slowing down.


Read More: Why are Dutch people so tall?


 

Growing Number of Height Operations

Yannick’s situation is not entirely unique. However, the Máxima Medical Center in Veldhoven is one of just a few hospitals where pediatric orthopedics can perform the procedure.

Regardless, the number of height operations have increased five-fold in less than four years, from 28 in 2015 to 151 last year. This has ended the previous method of treatment which involved utilising hormones to inhibit growth after it was discovered to cause infertility in girls.

Why stop growing?

There are a lot of advantages to being tall, like not having to pluck the low-hanging fruit or being really, really, really close to the basketball hoop. In fact, being tall is not harmful to a person’s health at all.

However, it can affect a person’s comfort when all other furniture is designed for shorter people, have social ramifications, and limit shopping options and job prospects.

Are you really tall, really small, or somewhere in between? What do you think of the tall people in the Netherlands? Let us know in the comments below!

Feature Image: Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺
Samantha Dixon 🇦🇺https://gallivantations.com
Sam has over six years experience writing about life in the Netherlands and leads the content team at DutchReview. She originally came to the Netherlands to study in 2016 and now holds a BA (Hons.) in Arts, a BA (Hons) in Journalism, and (almost) a Masters in Teaching. She loves to write about settling into life in the Netherlands, her city of Utrecht, learning Dutch, and jobs in the Netherlands — and she still can’t jump on the back of a moving bike (she's learning!).

1 COMMENT

  1. With the Netherlands having one of the most intensive agriculture industries in the world, the key to normal human growth is don’t eat so much Dutch industrial cheeses or Dutch processed meats to reduce exposure to animal growth hormone. Go organic for more normal development.

Leave a Reply to David Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related posts

Latest posts

Where are the ‘I amsterdam’ letters? The complete selfie guide

Here's a riddle for you: what weighs 250 kilos, is two metres high, and features in around 6,000 selfies a day? The I amsterdam...

Dutch companies are “selling” residence permits via the highly skilled migrant scheme

The Netherlands employs its so-called Kennismigranten (highly skilled migrants) in many sectors, from IT to academia to... nail salons, apparently. Yup, according to research by...

Expats may soon have to take an integration course when living in Amsterdam

If you're an expat living in Amsterdam, you could soon be asked to take Dutch language classes, history lessons, and volunteer time. That's right,...

It's happening

Upcoming events

The latest Dutch news.
In your inbox.