Pakistan’s ‘tallest man’ Zia Rashid dies

Zia died of protracted ailment; laid to rest in ancestral cemetery near Vehari

VEHARI:

Zia Rashid, the tallest person in Pakistan, died after protracted ailments on Tuesday – incidentally on the 26th death anniversary of Mohammad Alam Channa, who was the tallest living man in the world between 1982 till his death in 1998.

Zia Rashid, the youngest among five brothers, passed away at the age of 37. He was laid to rest at the cemetery in his native village of 94 WB, near Vehari. The funeral prayers were attended by political and social figures of the area besides friends and family.

According to the family, Zia Rashid, stool tall at 8 feet two and a half inches. Some other records suggest that his height was exactly 8 feet, which made him two inches taller that Naseer Soomro. However, these measurements had not been verified by the Guinness Book of Records.

Zia was born in 1987. His four siblings, Dr Majid Rashid, Dr Saqib Rashid, Aqib Rashid, Kashif Rashid, grew up with normal height, according to the family. However, Zia grew taller extraordinarily since the age of 15 and by the age of 18, he stood 7 feet 10 inches high.

At the time of his passing, he reached the height of 8 feet 2.5 inches, the family said. Because of his height, his normal life was affected as medical problems emerged, they added. He suffered from knee pain after the age of 20, the family said.

According to the friends and family, Zia had nasty fall from staircase at his home sometimes ago. But because of a lack of government support, he could not manage a proper treatment his condition deteriorated and died on Tuesday.

Local residents Pervez Chaudhry, Salim Kumboh, Liaqat Qadri and others said that Zia lived a full life. “Zia Rashid was a very good-mannered and simple person. With his death, Pakistan has lost one of the world's tallest man,” said Chaudhry.