De-Fen Yao
July 15th 1972 - November 13th 2012
who supposedly stood at 7'9" (236,2 cm) at her tallest.
It has been confirmed that De-Fen Yao has died. According to a programme on the Discovery Channel UK she was supposed to have an operation on the brain tumour which caused her gigantism in January 2007. So far I haven't had any news if the operation had taken place or not.
More on Ms. Yao:
"Gigantism patient receives treatment in Shanghai"
I've been asked several times why I consider Ms. Yao to be the tallest woman in the world:
Well, as you can see in the video-clip it has finally been confirmed that she is the tallest woman in the world. I guess the Guinness Book of Records needs to be updated.
The story: 19 years ago she was diagnosed with Acromegaly – a disease resulting from a tumour on the pituitary gland causing it to pump out excess growth hormone. Thanks to a documentary being made for a British Television programme, two of the leading doctors specialising in Acromegaly have offered to help De-Fen for free. The doctors and the television production team have been raising money for De-Fen’s recovery and future.
Even though the actual appear is now over you can still visit the Yao Defen Appeal Website.