Olena Stadnyk (R) looks up at her son Leonid
A man believed to be the tallest on the planet at 8ft 4 inches has died aged 44. Leonid Stadnyk, who was said to be too shy to measured for the Guinness World record books, was 21 inches taller than lanky England footballer Peter Crouch. The peasant farmer, from the Ukrainian village of Podoliantsy, died yesterday from a brain haemorrhage after health problems.
Leonid had said: “To me, my height is a curse, a punishment from God, not something to celebrate. What sin I have committed, I do not know. All my life I have dreamed of being just like everyone else. I don’t want or need the fame that this would bring so I have no desire to be in this Guinness book.”He was scared to commit to women “because I don’t want to inflict my problems on a wife. I think it would not be fair on her”, he said.
He wore size 27 shoes (in UK sizes) for feet that measured almost 18 inches in length while his palms were more than a foot in diameter. May his soul rest in peace … amen!