THE TALLEST WOMAN ALIVE

Meet Rumeysa Gelgi, the tallest woman alive on the planet. A Turkish lawyer, researcher and a web developer who holds multiple world records to her name. This 25-year-old woman suffers from a rare genetic condition called the Weaver syndrome. Weaver syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disorder that’s characterized by rapid bone growth along with other abnormalities.

Rumeysa was born on 1st January 1997 in Turkey. Upon birth she clearly showed signs of Weaver syndrome. A rare genetic mutation. She’s the only person in Turkey with this syndrome. Only 50 people worldwide have ever been documented with Weaver’s syndrome, Rumeysa being one of them. Because of this syndrome Ms.Gelgi had very rapid growth of her bones, making her taller than her parents, by the age of 7. She also has a curve in her spine due to which Rumeysa can’t stand upright for more than 30 minutes. She uses a wheelchair for her daily movements. All her clothes, footwear and even her car has been custom made to fit her proportions correctly.

Rumeysa is 7feet and 0.7inches tall, along with holding the world record of the world’s tallest woman alive she also holds the world record for the largest hands, longest fingers and longest back. In 2014, Rumeysa had the record of world’s tallest teenager to her name.

She has always tried to utilise the buzz around for spreading awareness about her rare condition and also scoliosis. She is an active social media user and uses her platform to share the good and the bad sides of her height. She’s also a frequent face on television, where she advocates about Weaver syndrome.

Rumeysa recently had to fly to San Francisco from Turkey, which due to her height was almost an impossible task. However, Turkish Airlines took matter into their hands and made Ms.Gelgi’s dream come true. 6 passenger seats from the economy section were removed and a stretcher placed instead, so Rumeysa could occupy it comfortably for the 13 hours long flight.

Rumeysa is currently working on developing her software development skills and for the same she had travel to USA. Rumeysa upon her return expressed her gratitude to the airlines and her desire to fly more.