The Ghanaian Giant Reported to Be the World’s Tallest Man
Favour Nunoo
1/4/2023 11:54:00 AM
Favour Nunoo wrote this article in BBC:
A local hospital in northern Ghana told 29-year-old Sulemana Abdul Samed during one of his recent check-ups that he had reached the height of 9 ft 6in (2.89m).
This would make him the tallest man in the world, but there was a catch - the rural clinic could not be sure of his height because it did not have the correct measuring tools.
Diagnosed with gigantism a few years ago, the young man was attending a monthly appointment to deal with the complications of living as a giant when he was asked to stand straight against a measuring rod.
A shocked nurse told him: "You've grown taller than the scale."
Better known to everyone by his nickname Awuche, which means "Let's Go" in Hausa, he was bemused by the spectacle he was causing.
He was not surprised to hear he was taller, given he has never stopped growing - but it caused consternation for the staff, who were not prepared for such a scenario.
The duty nurse called out to her colleague, who in turn called out to another for help. Before long a group of nurses and health assistants gathered to solve the puzzle of determining his height.
One suggested they find a pole and use it as an extension above their stick to measure his height - and this is how they arrived at their estimate.
Still growing
When I first came across Awuche a few months ago when travelling in northern Ghana, where his fame had spread across the area's grasslands, I did not have a measuring tape on me to verify his height.
So in order to settle the matter - and armed with a 16ft measuring tape - I returned to the village of Gambaga last week.
The plan was to have him lean against a wall, mark it by the crown of his head and then determine his height using the measuring tape.
"The way they measure me, I cannot say everything is perfect," Awuche admitted - happy with my plan to get an exact measurement.
He turned out to be taller than most of the houses in his neighbourhood, but after a good search we found a suitable building with a high-enough wall.
He took off his shoes - large slip-ons specially made from car tyres and nailed together for him by a local handyman as he has been unable to find shoes to fit him.
One of his neighbours clambered up on a wooden stool to reach Awuche's height so he could mark the wall with a piece of charcoal.
After verifying the line, we stretched out the measuring tape firmly from the marked line to the ground as Awuche looked on in anticipation.
"Awuche, the measuring tape reads 7ft 4in," I said.
Wearing his inimitable smile, he replied: "Wow, so what does it mean?"
"Well, the tallest man alive is 8ft 2.8in tall, he is barely one foot taller than you."
I was referring to 40-year-old Sultan Kösen, who lives in Turkey and holds the current Guinness World Record.
"I'm still growing tall. Who knows, maybe one day I may get to that height too," Awuche remarked - not at all upset by the discrepancy with the figure given to him by the hospital.
"Every three months of four months I grow… If you've not seen me for three months or four and you see me, you'd realised I have increased," he explains.
A local hospital in northern Ghana told 29-year-old Sulemana Abdul Samed during one of his recent check-ups that he had reached the height of 9 ft 6in (2.89m).
This would make him the tallest man in the world, but there was a catch - the rural clinic could not be sure of his height because it did not have the correct measuring tools.
Diagnosed with gigantism a few years ago, the young man was attending a monthly appointment to deal with the complications of living as a giant when he was asked to stand straight against a measuring rod.
A shocked nurse told him: "You've grown taller than the scale."
Better known to everyone by his nickname Awuche, which means "Let's Go" in Hausa, he was bemused by the spectacle he was causing.
He was not surprised to hear he was taller, given he has never stopped growing - but it caused consternation for the staff, who were not prepared for such a scenario.
The duty nurse called out to her colleague, who in turn called out to another for help. Before long a group of nurses and health assistants gathered to solve the puzzle of determining his height.
One suggested they find a pole and use it as an extension above their stick to measure his height - and this is how they arrived at their estimate.
Still growing
When I first came across Awuche a few months ago when travelling in northern Ghana, where his fame had spread across the area's grasslands, I did not have a measuring tape on me to verify his height.
So in order to settle the matter - and armed with a 16ft measuring tape - I returned to the village of Gambaga last week.
The plan was to have him lean against a wall, mark it by the crown of his head and then determine his height using the measuring tape.
"The way they measure me, I cannot say everything is perfect," Awuche admitted - happy with my plan to get an exact measurement.
He turned out to be taller than most of the houses in his neighbourhood, but after a good search we found a suitable building with a high-enough wall.
He took off his shoes - large slip-ons specially made from car tyres and nailed together for him by a local handyman as he has been unable to find shoes to fit him.
One of his neighbours clambered up on a wooden stool to reach Awuche's height so he could mark the wall with a piece of charcoal.
After verifying the line, we stretched out the measuring tape firmly from the marked line to the ground as Awuche looked on in anticipation.
"Awuche, the measuring tape reads 7ft 4in," I said.
Wearing his inimitable smile, he replied: "Wow, so what does it mean?"
"Well, the tallest man alive is 8ft 2.8in tall, he is barely one foot taller than you."
I was referring to 40-year-old Sultan Kösen, who lives in Turkey and holds the current Guinness World Record.
"I'm still growing tall. Who knows, maybe one day I may get to that height too," Awuche remarked - not at all upset by the discrepancy with the figure given to him by the hospital.
"Every three months of four months I grow… If you've not seen me for three months or four and you see me, you'd realised I have increased," he explains.