Britain's tallest man: 'It's no fun being 7ft 9ins'

"Everyone else is normal and I’m different. Everyone can see me, people ask me sometimes why I’m so tall, I ask why I'm so tall."

Hussein Bisad, 46, who is Britain's tallest man at 7ft 7 inches, has spoken out about the troubles he faces due to his height.

Bisad came to the public consciousness back in 2002 when he claimed he was the world’s tallest man.

However, when he was measured by Guinness World Records, it was ruled that he was shorter than Tunisian Radhouane Charbib, who kept his title at 7ft 8 inches.

Bisad, from Neasden, north west London, withdrew from the public eye after failing to clinch the record.

Now, he is fighting a serious illness while living in a London care home.

Doctors believe Bisad has a condition called pituitary gigantism, which leads to the production of more growth hormones than usual.

Speaking from the care home garden, Bisad described what life was like growing up in Somalia with his height.

He was a "normal" height until Year 2 at school, but at this point his body went through a growth spurt so severe his headteacher wouldn't believe he was the same child.

"When I was in school in Year 1, I was normal. I was the same height as everyone my age but in Year 2 I started growing," he said.

"My headteacher said 'Are you sure you're Hussein?' He said 'go home and bring your father', I went back home and my dad took me back to the school.

"When I was in Year Two I was the same height as the teacher and he also said 'Are you Hussein?'

"I was around six to seven years old.I had a bigger chair, bigger desk, everything changed."

Speaking about the difficulties he faced, he added: "My friends would say Hussein is a giant and make jokes about my height."

He has faced life-threatening health issues in the past five years, and needs dialysis three times a day. He received a kidney transplant in February 2020.

Bisad needs crutches to walk and gets tired easily.

There are practical issues that come with being so tall.

Bisad has size 22 feet which means his shoes have to be specially exported, and some of his clothes have to be custom made.

His adapted bed is nine foot long.

Revealing he is married, Bisad said he now wishes to return to Somalia and bring his wife back to live with him in Neasden, adding he is “just as famous” in Somalia as in the UK.

"People always stopped me in the street in Somalia," he said.

Although he wasn’t crowned the planet’s tallest man, Bisad did hold the record for the world’s largest hands for a time until Kosen took that title.

Bisad’s hands were measured at 10.59 inches or 26.9cm long.