Yao Defen of China claims to be the tallest woman in the world, with 7′ 8″ (233 cm). She weighs 200 kg (440 lbs) and has size 26 (UK) / 78 (EU) feet. Her gigantism is due to a tumor in her pituitary gland.
Yao Defen was born to poor farmers in the town of Liuan in the Anhui province of Shucheng County. At birth she weighed 6.16 pounds. At age 3 she was eating more than three times the amount of food that other three-year-olds were eating. When she was 11 years old she was about 6 foot 2 inches tall. She was 6 foot 8 inches tall by the age of 15.
The story of this “woman giant” began to spread rapidly after she went to see a doctor at age 15 for an illness. After that, many companies attempted to train her to be a sports star. The plans were abandoned, however, because Defen was too weak. Because she is illiterate, since 1992 Yao Defen has been forced to earn a living by traveling with her father and performing.
Yao Defen’s giant stature was caused by a large tumor in the pituitary gland of her brain, which was releasing too much growth hormone and caused excessive growth in her bones. Six years ago, a hospital in Guangzhou Province removed the tumor, and she stopped growing.
The tumor returned and she was treated in Shanghai in 2007, but was sent home for 6 months with the hope that medication would reduce her tumor enough to allow surgery. It remains unknown if the second surgery was ever performed.
5 Comments
I need to know what happened to Yao. Can anybody tell me? I saw the documentary about her on TV, and her story touched me more than anything I’ve ever seen. I only wish I were in a position to help her. Please, if anyone can give me an update, I would be sincerely grateful.
Hi there Narelle. Me too, how i wish i could offer some help to her. I hope those billionaires and millionaires will share even just a tiny bit of their blessing to yao defen.
According to http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question103553.html the third comment says she’s dead on 2008. But i have also found an article about Zhang Jun-Cai “World’s tallest man” visiting Yao Defen at the hospital. And this one is dated April 16, 2009.
Hope it helps.
Date July 2010
I have just viewed on TV the 2007 story of Yao.
now I am looking to find more information on the help she has or has not recieved and if she has managed to survive? I wish you good life Yao !
JC
It seems she had a bad fall in 2008, resulting in severe bleeding in her brain, there is a follow up story called the worlds largest giants, when the tallest man in the world heard of Yoa Defan’s fall and subsequent return to hospital he rushed to her side. What happens from here I have no ideas as I have yet to see the story talked about below…
http://www.mediaupdate.co.za/?idstory=23089 – My Shocking Story 5 – World’s Tallest Giants.
Hope this helps update those who are interested…
@sharon,
Thanks a lot for the link sharon, lots of visitor might find it helpful