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.
When I first came across Awuche a few months ago when traveling 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. ♦
