When Hussain Bisad first settled in north London as an asylum seeker after fleeing from war in Somalia 23 years ago, he did so in the hope of a new and more settled life. Little did he know that shortly after arriving he would be at the centre of the media spotlight, not for his story of escaping conflict but for something altogether different: his height.
Bisad had been in the UK for five months when Guinness World Records measured his height as 2.3 metres (7ft 6.5in), making him then the world’s tallest living man.
The Sun excitedly proclaimed “World’s Tallest Man Lives in Neasden” and he was even featured on the US morning talkshow Live with Regis and Kelly. It was a far cry from his life in Somalia, where he grew up with his twin sister, who is 1.65m.
Looking back, Bisad’s difficult journey did not end with his flight from his home country. Bisad deals with health problems associated with acromegaly (gigantism), the rare health condition marked by height noticeably above average where the body produces too much growth hormone.
In 2016 his health deteriorated and he went into a coma for six months, triggered by meningitis and anaemia. He moved into a care home between 2017 and 2024, a time he refers to as “a dark period in my life”.
Now, Bisad urges that the government should assess vulnerable people differently and “give them more compassion and kindness. Because now with these new rules of universal credit, people don’t get what they are entitled to, because when somebody has mental illness, they sometimes can’t provide certain details because of their illness and get what they need.”
He said the government should make things easier for those with physical or mental illness, especially young people, and “should be kind to vulnerable people and young people in care homes”.
Recently, many organisations have said the government’s budget did not go far enough on social care. The Local Government Association said the £600m in social care funding that local authorities were to receive would “meet some but not all of the significant pressures in adult and children’s social care and homelessness support”.
Bisad said the Covid-19 pandemic was a particularly hard time as residents at the home were instructed to stay in their rooms, which was a struggle for him due to his height. It was a struggle to fit his 2.75 metre-long bed in a small room.
“I’m very happy now I live on my own,” he said. “I have my own house now, the old place I lived in was a little place where you have no independence. People can’t visit and stay. It doesn’t feel like your own house, sometimes some people’s parents would visit them maybe once a week. Other than that, it felt like a jail.”
Due to there being lots of different types of people in the care home, Bisad referred to the home as uncomfortable at times and said he would rather spend time in the garden all day than be inside.
“There was a lady living next door and she screamed from 6 o’clock in the morning all the way to 10 or 11 o’clock at night, and she knocked on the walls. And I asked them [care workers] can you make her not scream and help her out. And they said we can’t do anything because she’s ill. I couldn’t sleep so I would spend all day in the garden until she fell asleep, and it became quiet.”
The Covid period was one in which isolation was further amplified for Bisad, and many of the care home’s residents did not survive. “They all died; all my neighbours died. Ninety per cent of them died because they were elderly and ill.”
Bisad faces unique challenges as such a tall man. He gets his clothes by special order, usually from the US or China. He wears a size 8XL in clothing and his shoes are UK size 21. This is often more costly as he is unable to buy clothing on the high street.
The tallest known man living is now Sultan Kösen, in Ankara, Turkey, who is 2.51m, according to Guinness World Records.
The care home Bisad previously resided in said: “During his stay he was kept safe and well-equipped and respected his choices and maintain his dignity at all time. [The] care home catered for another 78 residents with multiple care needs where we are registered for challenging behaviour and dementia care as well, so we have a mixed category of resident, sometimes it can be noisy and challenging.”