ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s tallest man Zia Rasheed died at the age of 30 on July 2, local media widely reported, coincidentally the 26th death anniversary of Alam Channa, another Pakistani who was once the tallest living person on earth.
Rasheed is believed to have reached the height of 8 feet by the time he was 18, but his stature brought with it a host of illnesses associated with being too tall. The current tallest man in the world, Sultan Kosen from Türkiye, stands at a height of 8 feet 3 inches, around three inches taller than Rasheed.
Height is a risk factor for multiple health conditions such as cellulitis, skin abscesses, chronic leg ulcers, and osteomyelitis. Height is also believed to be related to the incidence of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
“Zia Rasheed, the tallest person in Pakistan, died after protracted ailments on Tuesday,” Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper report said, adding that the youngest of five brothers had been unwell for a long time and was laid to rest in his native village near Vehari district in Pakistan’s central-eastern Punjab province.
“He suffered from a leg-related illness that caused him considerable discomfort and pain for much of his life,” the Samaa news website said.
“Unfortunately, Zia never received the proper medical treatment he needed. Despite his condition, he remained in Pakistan, unable to secure the resources necessary to seek better medical facilities abroad.”
“Rasheed had a normal childhood until he experienced a significant growth spurt at the age of 12, which was later attributed to a malfunctioning pituitary gland,” Samaa added. “This glandular issue caused an overproduction of growth hormone, leading to his extraordinary height.”
Ironically, Rasheed died the same day as Alam Channa, a Pakistani who held a Guinness Book of World Record as the tallest living man in the world between 1982 and 1998, measuring 7.7 feet. A local celebrity and common fixture at moving circuses for most of his life, he suffered from kidney failure and high blood pressure and was sent by the government for treatment to the US.
He was admitted to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York but died on July 2, 1988. He is buried in Sehwan, a town in Sindh known for the famous shrine of Sufi saint, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, where Channa’s family members as helpers had worked for decades. He himself worked for the shrine in his youth before joining the circus.
