Igor Vovkovinskiy, America’s Tallest Living Man, Dies at 38

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Igor Vovkovinskiy, on September 12, 2009 at a rally led by former US President Barack Obama in Minnesota.

(CNN) – Igor Vovkovinskiy, crowned America’s tallest living man by Guinness World Records in 2010, died on Friday at age 38, said his mother, Svetlana Vovkovinska.

Vovkovinskiy was 7 feet 8.33 inches tall (2.35 meters), according to Guinness. He died in a hospital of heart disease with his mother and brother by his side, according to a Facebook post on Saturday posted by Svetlana. Just hours before his death, Vovkovinskiy was able to spend time with his brother’s family and had his last dinner, which was a piece of Kiev and Fanta cake, his mother said.

Vovkovinskiy moved from Ukraine to Rochester, Minnesota, in 1989 for medical treatment, according to his Facebook page. He was born with pituitary gigantism, according to a television segment he did on “The Dr. Oz Show” in 2010.

During that segment, Guinness World Record officials measured Vovkovinskiy’s height and crowned him America’s New Tallest Living Man. He was 27 at the time and surpassed the previous record holder, Virginia Deputy Sheriff George Bell, by a third of an inch, according to Guinness.

“It feels good to finally have proof that I am the tallest man in America,” Vovkovinskiy said in 2010. “Everybody always asks me if I’m sure I’m the tallest and I could never prove it. Now that I have this one. certificate to hang on my wall, I’ll finally be able to display it! “

He wore a shoe size 24 10-E, Guinness said, and faced the daily challenges of fitting into cars and finding comfortable shoes.

His online obituary for the funeral home stated that he enjoyed spending time with friends and family, occasionally fishing and traveling. A memorial service will be held on Saturday with a burial at a later date.

Guinness says that the tallest living man in the world is Sultan Kosen of Turkey, who is 8 feet 2.8 inches tall (2.51 meters). The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow, according to Guinness. Wadlow was from Illinois and was 8 feet, 11.1 inches (2.72 meters) tall. He died in 1940.

CNN’s Kara Devlin contributed to this report.