The tallest man who ever lived was Robert Wadlow. His life was exciting, but short in a tragic way.
He was born healthy and seemingly normal in 1918. Like most babies, in his first year of life, Robert started to develop. He grew incredibly quickly and extraordinarily tall, as opposed to many infants. He surpassed his father's height of 5 feet 11 inches by 3 inches when he turned 8 years of age. At the age of 13, he became the tallest Boy Scout in the world at 7 foot 4 inches. He landed in the record books as the world's tallest individual at 8 foot 4 inches by the time he graduated from high school (254 cm). Eventually, physicians diagnosed Robert with pituitary gland hyperplasia. It is a disease that, because of an abnormally high level of human growth hormones in the body, causes excessive growth. His body kept expanding even at the time of his death and showed no sign of slowing down.
His parents wanted to make his life as normal as possible, so when he was in elementary school, they made a special desk for him. To pursue a career in law, he later enrolled at Shurtleff College. He had to deal with another problem, although he was a reasonably healthy child. Wadlow suffered from a loss of sensation in his legs and feet as a result of his immense height. Nevertheless, he tended to walk by himself, never using a wheelchair. Robert Wadlow was noticed by the Ringling Brothers and their traveling circus in 1936. They realized he was going to make an interesting addition to their show, so he was picked up by them. The world's tallest man drew huge crowds at the shows, rapidly shooting him up to celebrity status. Two years later, Wadlow was offered a position by the Peters Display company to become the face of the firm. He promoted the brand and got free of charge all of his specially made size 37AA (European size 75) shoes.
His papa had to change the family car to drive across the country by removing the passenger seat so that he could sit in the back and stretch out his legs. To walk correctly, Robert's legs were fitted with braces. While they helped him to stand upright, his weakness was also the braces. He did not note that the braces were rubbing against his ankle because of the lack of sensation in his legs. A blister developed and became infected in 1940. Doctors had to resort to emergency surgery and blood transfusions. Sadly, Robert's giant height left him with a compromised immune system as well. In the end, he succumbed to the infection.
Robert died peacefully in his sleep on July 15, 1940. He was measured for the last time clocking in at 8 foot 11.1 inches (272 cm). His body was put in a casket fit for the world's tallest man. It reached 10 feet 9 inches in length and weighed 453.59 kg. It took 12 men, helped by another 8 assistants, to bring it out of the funeral. There were thousands of people at the funeral to mourn him. While Robert Wadlow died at only 22 years of age, he is still remembered. On the grounds of the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, a life-sized bronze statue of Wadlow stands.
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