This would make him the tallest man in the world, but there’s a catch – the rural clinic can’t be sure of his height because they don’t have the right measuring tools.
Diagnosed with gigantism a few years ago, the young man attends monthly appointments to deal with the complications of living as a giant when asked to stand straight against a measuring rod.
The shocked nurse told him: “You have grown taller than the scale.”
Better known to everyone by his nickname Awuche, which means “Come on” in Hausa, he was bewildered by the spectacle he put on.
He wasn’t surprised to hear he was taller, as he never stopped growing – but it caused anxiety among the staff, who were unprepared for the scenario.
The nurse on duty called her friend, who then called for more help. Soon a group of nurses and health assistants gathered to solve the puzzle of determining his height.
One suggested that he found a pole and used it as an extension on top of a stick to measure its height – and this is how he arrived at his estimate.
When I first met Awuche a few months ago while traveling in northern Ghana, where his fame has spread in the grass of his area, I did not have a tape measure on me to verify his height.
So to settle the matter – and with a 16-foot tape measure – I returned to the village of Gambaga last week.
The plan was to have him lean against the wall, mark the top of his head and then determine his height using a tape measure.
“How to measure me, I can’t say everything is perfect,” Awuche admits – like my plan to get exact measurements.
They were taller than most of the houses in the neighborhood, but after a good search we found a suitable building with fairly high walls.
He took off his shoes – large slip-ons that were specially made from car tires and nailed together for him by a local craftsman because he couldn’t find any shoes that fit him.
One of the neighbors climbed on a wooden chair to reach the height of Awuche so that he could mark the wall with charcoal.
After verifying the line, we put the tape measure firmly from the marked line to the ground while Awuche looked in anticipation.
“Awuche, the tape measure is 7ft 4in,” I said.
With an inimitable smile, he replied: “Wow, so what does that mean?”
“Wow, the tallest man alive is 8ft 2.8in tall, that’s almost a foot taller than you.”
“I am still growing tall. Who knows, maybe one day I can reach that height too,” said Awuche – not at all because of the discrepancy with the figure given by the hospital.
“Every three months out of four months I grow… If you don’t see me for three months or four months and you see me, you will realize that I have grown,” he explained.
This increase in height began to be seen when he was 22 years old and lived in the capital, Accra.
Awuche had moved there to try his luck in the city, where one of his relatives lives, after finishing high school.
He works at a butcher, saving money to study at a driving school.
But one morning he woke up confused: “I realized that my tongue had enlarged my mouth so much that I couldn’t breathe. [properly]”, he said.
He visited a local pharmacy to get medicine, but a few days later he realized that all parts of his body had grown in size.
When his family and friends from his village visit the town, they all tell him about his growth and this is when he realizes that he will become a giant.
They began to dominate everyone – and sought medical help as the growth led to other complications.
He has been left with an abnormally curved spine, one of the prominent symptoms of his condition, Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue.
This results in abnormal limbs.
More serious complications include heart defects.
Doctors said he needed a surgical procedure on his brain to stop his growth.
But Ghana’s public health insurance cannot cover this, it only provides basic care.
For each hospital visit he still has to raise about $50 (£40).
His health problems finally forced him to return to his home village six years ago and abandon his dream of becoming a driver.
“I was planning to go to driving school, but even if I moved the seat again, I couldn’t hold the steering wheel … I couldn’t stretch my legs because my knees would hit the steering wheel.”
He now lives with his sister – and got it after setting up a small business selling mobile phone credits.
His height has also curtailed his social life.
“I used to play football like other young people, I was athletic but now I can’t walk a short distance,” he explained.
But Awuche did not let go of his problems. He was full of soul as his tall slender frame paced the dusty village streets – smiling when people called out to him.
He’s a bit of a local celebrity.
A group of old people sitting in exchange pleasantries shed, children wave, some women came up to hug and share jokes with him.
Some people want to take selfies with him – even foreigners come to ask if he is the giant seen on social media.
“I would usually say: ‘Yes, come closer’ – we stand and take a good picture,” Awuche said.
He is extremely grateful to his family for their emotional support, saying he does not know of any other relatives, including his three brothers, who have shown signs of the disease.
“No one is tall, I’m just the tallest.”
She would love to get married and have children one day, but first she needs to concentrate on getting over her health.
His first priority is to try and raise money for plastic surgery to deal with serious skin complaints on one leg, ankle and foot caused by excessive growth.
But looking at his stubbed toe, Awuche refused to be bothered by the situation.
“This is how God chose for me, I’m fine. I have no problem with the way God made me.”
Source: Favor Nunoo, BBC