They have some ridiculously tall people over in China. Remember Sun Ming Ming – Tallest Athlete Ever? Yeah, and just as Sun Ming Ming, Yao Defen is also Chinese and according to Guinness Book of World Records, she’s the tallest woman in the word.

Yao Defen is 7′9″ or 236,2cm tall. Her “gigantism” was reportedly caused by a disease called acromegaly – it’s a form of brain tumor that resides on pituitary gland and causes excessive production of growth hormone (it’s the same hormone, the lack of which causes slow metabolism which makes you fat).

Yao Defen was born to poor parents and her family could not afford to pay for the operation of her acromegaly, but her story was filmed and broadcast by Discovery Channel UK which increased awareness in her case and Yao Defen was offered fre operation by two of worlds leading experts on Acromegaly. British broadcaster also raised money to help Yao Defen with after operation recovery.

Further Reading:

• Sultan Kosen – World’s Tallest Man
• Giuliano Stroe – 5 Year Old Body Builder from Romania
• Tatiana Kozhevnikova – Woman with Strongest Vagina in the World
• Bitsy – World’s Smallest Cat at Only 1.5 Pounds (video)
• Rosemary Alvarez Had Live Worm Eating her Brain (video)