Turkey's Sultan Kosen celebrated his 40th birthday recently. The world's tallest man living celebrated a milestone birthday and wished that he keeps holding the record. Mr Kosen who is 8 feet and 2.8 inches tall turned 40 on December 10 and celebrated his birthday by visiting Ripley's Believe It or Not! in Orlando, USA.
Mr Kosen cut a cake and posed next to the statue of Robert Wadlow at a height of 272 cm (8 ft 11.1 in) the tallest man ever. He has given the title of the tallest man on Earth in 2009.
Mr Kosen did not keep his birthday wish a secret, he hopes to "travel the remaining countries which I have not visited so far," according to a press release by Guinness World Records. "And to keep my record title. I hope there will be no one taller than me," he added, jokingly.
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Mr Kosen has now visited 127 countries and is now a cultural ambassador for Turkiye. He was also part of a cooking show on Romanian TV before travelling to the USA. Mr Kosen has a condition called pituitary gigantism because of which he couldn't attend school and was told he was too tall to play basketball. He resigned himself to the life of a farmer in order to support his family. However, that all changed in 2009 when he was officially recognized as the tallest man on Earth.
"After that day, I was born," Sultan recalled.
"Before that, I was a very silent person. Now, I can talk. I'm happy. I'm funny. I enjoy my life."
Sultan's life changed for the better over the following decade. Most importantly, he received free life-saving surgery to stop his endless growth, which was caused by a condition known as pituitary gigantism.
In Sultan's case, his pituitary gland was damaged by a tumour, leading to excess production of growth hormone. Interestingly, his huge growth spurt didn't start until he was 10 years old.
In 2016, Sultan fulfilled a lifelong dream by making his Hollywood debut in Achieving the Impossible, before going on to tour with the Magic Circus of Samoa.
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