12-year-old Sophie Hollins of Southampton, UK, has been named as the world’s tallest pre-teen by Guinness World Records.
Sophie was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome
Sophie stands proud at 6ft 2in as she has set a record because of her height. The schoolgirl can touch the ceiling at home and towers over friends and family.
Record-breaking 12-year-old is the tallest girl in the world https://t.co/vD938kkhvh pic.twitter.com/7uezaFe96l
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) May 31, 2018
Sophie was eight months old when she was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome (MFS). MFS is a genetic disorder of the connective tissue. The degree to which it affects people varies. The life-threatening disorder affects the body’s connective tissues, causing organ problems or leading to extreme height.
At six years, Sophie was 4'10" and 5'11" at ten. Doctors have attempted to restrict her growth in height by destroying growth tissues in her knees and giving her hormones to speed up puberty. Sophie's mother, Lorraine, 44, is 5ft 4in and her father, Ian, also 44, is 5ft 10. Her brother, Aaron, is 4ft 7in at 10 years.
Wishes for a successful stop to the growth
Sophie now wishes for the success of the procedure carried out to put a stop to her height growth. Her life-threatening genetic disorder is affecting the body’s connective issues.
Sophie's mother was scared for her daughter's bright future as many constantly teased her at school and elsewhere. The 12-year-old also faced issues at school as many called her a giraffe. Sophie, however, ignored all call-outs and moved forward. There was also a point when Sophie became too skinny and that bothered the family a lot, considering the adverse health effects. Sophie, who is challenging China's Sun Fang in height, hopes to work with animals on growing up.
Guinness says the world tallest man is Turkish farmer Sultan Kösen, 35, at 8ft 2.8in. The tallest woman is China’s 7ft 3in Sun Fang, 30. Sun Fang is the tallest woman in China and probably the tallest living woman in the world. This record was acknowledged after the death of Yao Defen on 13 November 2012.
Picture Credit: expressdigest.com
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Bhawana is an intern with SheThePeople.TV