Gigantism

["IRISH" RUFUS MURPHY]

In folk lore and fairy tale, through mouth, pen and song, there have been references to the large, whether it be mountains or even symbolic gestures about the measure of a man's heart and generosity, and then there are large things, even large people.

We recall the infamous "Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum!" from the early days of our childhood, of blood thirsty ogres and giants snatching children and sucking the marrow from their bones. The opening lines of 'Once upon a time' have eclipsed the realities of what history has shown us. Walt Disney and the brother's Grimm have utterly and ultimately turned a way of life and native pride and culture of such figures into something blasphemous and grotesque.

Some of the earliest mentions of 'giants' are in the opening chapters of Genesis 6:4 as "there were giants in the earth in those days, the sons of God came upon the daughters of men..." and later mentioned in Deuteronomy and First and Second Samuel---speaking of races of unusally tall people in the "promised land" of Canaan, where the Biblical scholars write "we were as grasshoppers in their eyes."

There are a few races and tribes in the world that are remarkably tall, the Dinka and the Watutsi of Africa have been noted to exceed seven and one half feet in height. Possibly the most famous tribesman of these people is Manute Bol who played for the NBA as he stood 7'6", naturally, not because of gigantism.

The tallest known man to grow naturally, rather than a pathological disorder, was the Scotish born Canadian Angus McAskill, who stood 7'9" and had a 65" chest expansion measurement and may very well have been the strongest man in history.

Ironically most religions and cultures have had similar stories, such as the Greeks and Romans wrote how the Titans, creations of the gods, revolted against their masters; much like the Biblical account of the war in Heaven between Lucifer and his fallen angels [the sons of God, Genesis 6:4 cross reference] and God and his arch-angels.

The most noted Biblical giant was Goliath of Gath, who stood 6 cubits [cubit is 18"] and a span [span is 8"], a remarkable 9'6.5"---this is arguably the first case of note of gigantism, as Goliath of Gath's children (mentioned in 2nd Samuel) were also extremely tall and had 6 digits on each hand; a common abnormality associated with gigantism.

To Roman/Greek calculations the height of Goliath was 6'10", as their cubits and spans varied from the Hebrew measurements---irregardless the height of this man, he was a giant either way, as medical record censuses of the 1700's showed that the average man was 5'8" or shorter, and considering Biblical times were 3,000 years and more, this goes to show that in either case Goliath was a giant of his and our time.

Since the times of Abraham, Moses and Christ there have been several thousand cases substantiated by medical authorities of unusally tall men and women, though it wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that it was proven to be a disorder---though as early as 1782 it was theorised. So for many thousands of years men and women who suffered this ailment were considered either sacred or cursed individuals by the forces of nature or God., which is where you get the stigma that 'giants' were 'evil' or 'bad luck'.

In some remote places in the world where medicine and surgery are far too expensive or impossible to obtain, gigantism is common. Statistics show that at least 1 in 100,000 people get gigantism. One of the most recent cases of gigantism in poorer countries was the Ugandan giant John Paul Ofwano who stood 7'10" before he died from complications with his disease in his mid 40's.

Many of these people throughout history could not make a decent living, as their height was a great hinderence to them in the work force, so they exhibited themselves in the hopes that through exposure and a few exaggerations [most circus giants were billed as much as 18" in excess of their true heights] that they could make a living at being tall.

One of the most famous of the early giants was Charles O'Brien of Cork, Ireland who later went under the alias of Charles Byrne when he went to tour in England. Standing 7'7" he billed himself as being 8'4". Unfortunately he died while on tour from his disease. The famous surgeon John Hunter did the autopsy on O'Brien and noted that the pituitary gland was severely swollen [1782 cross reference]. O'Brien's skeletal remains are on view in London, next to the skeleton of the shortest man on record Gul Mohamad.

In the 1950's with the advent of drive-in movie theatres and roller coasters, circus sideshows started to wane in popularity, as well as many 'do gooders' as the sideshow performers called them, were trying to put a stop to the exhibiting of 'human curiousities' as it was 'inhumane' in their eyes.

A few of the early circus giants became actors, mostly in the horror-film genre, such as Eddie Carmel "The Jewish Giant" who stood 7'9" and starred in such films as THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE and 1,000,000 YEARS BEFORE CLOTHES. Others such as Jake Earle, who stood 7'6", was more lucky in the film business starring alongside The Three Stooges in their adaption of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK.

As tall as many circus giants were, none came close to Robert Pershing Wadlow. Wadlow at age 5 stood 5'4" and by the time he was 12 he stood 6'10". By the time he died at the premature age of 22 he was virtually 9' tall and weighed 420 pounds and wore size 44 shoes and a size 34 ring! Wadlow on average grew 3" per year, had he lived on, it is estimated that if he continued growing by the time he would be 30 years old he would have been 11' tall, that's taller than a regulation baketball rim (10' 5")!

Gigantism is rarely shown twice in families, though in the case of Charles O'Brien his cousin Patrick Cotter O'Brien was 8'1" when he died, the Knipe Brothers, also of Ireland, stood 7'2" [identical twin giants] and of course, earlier mentioned, Goliath of Gath had children who were also quite tall.

In my own family there is one case of gigantism, as one of my cousin's on my father's side stands 6'11" bare foot and still continues to grow, also suffering from acromegaly which is a characteristic of gigantism, where the bones in the face and hands and feet thicken immensely. Unfortunately some people who have gigantism are prone to be mentally handicapped, as in the case of my cousin. The only sign of extreme height ever mentioned in my family on my father's side before my cousin, was my great great grandfather who was described as "like the mighty oak of the forest", course this could be a reference to physical strength and/or a symbolic meaning.

Currently the tallest man in the world is Lenoid Standik of the Ukraine, who stands 8'4" and is still growing. Though he wishes to stop growing, as his body is starting to weaken and he is getting sicker, in his native homeland treatment, let alone buying clothes that will fit him, is virtually unobtainable. A pair of his shoes costs roughly $200 while he makes less than $30 a month [size 60 in Ukraine]. Standik says if he keeps growing at this rate he is afraid that he will eventually have to crawl into his own home, rather than duck under the door and hang his head down so he don't hit the ceiling. His clothes are a staggering size XXXXXXXL.

[Luka]

Way too long, didn't read.