Ghana mourns Sulemana Abdul Samed, the nation's tallest man, who died at 33

Sulemana Abdul Samed, age 33, died from complications of Marfan syndrome after struggling with the genetic disorder for over a decade, losing his ability to work and participate in normal activities.

In the final days of July, Sulemana Abdul Samed — known to his community as Awuche, 'Let's Go' — died at 33 in a hospital in Tamale, Ghana, from infected leg sores brought on by Marfan syndrome, the rare genetic disorder that had reshaped his body and his life since his early twenties. He stood seven feet four inches tall, and in that height his village of Gambaga had found a kind of identity, a way of being known in a country that might otherwise have passed them by. His death is a reminder that rare disease does not only alter the body — it quietly renegotiates everything a person might have

Ghana mourns Sulemana Abdul Samed, the nation's tallest man, who died at 33

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