He Pingping | |
---|---|
He Pingping (1988-2010)
|
|
Born |
Ulanqab, China |
13 July 1988
Died | 13 March 2010 Rome, Italy |
(aged 21)
Cause of death | Heart Complications |
Nationality | Chinese |
Height | 2 ft 5 in (74 cm) |
He Pingping (Chinese: 何平平; pinyin: Hé Píngpíng; 13 July 1988 – 13 March 2010) was a Chinese citizen and, according to the Guinness World Records, one time world's shortest mobile man.
He measured 74 cm (2 ft 5 in) tall, and was the third child of a family in Huade county, in the city of Ulanqab in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He had two sisters, both of whom developed at normal rates. According to his father, He Yun, at birth he was small enough to fit in the palm of his parents' hands. When it became apparent the child was growing very slowly, doctors diagnosed the cause as the bone deformity osteogenesis imperfecta, which hinders normal bone growth and body height. He was a chain smoker.
In January 2007, He was invited to take part on a television program in Tokyo, Japan. His home of Inner Mongolia is also home to Bao Xishun, who at 2.36 metres tall was recognized by Guinness as the world's tallest man until September 2009. Their televised meeting in July 2007 attracted global media attention. In May 2008 he appeared in the British Channel 4 documentary called The World's Smallest Man and Me hosted by Mark Dolan. In the episode He and his family spent time with Mark who stayed over to celebrate Chinese New Year. In September 2008 he appeared with the world's longest-legged woman, Svetlana Pankratova, in London's Trafalgar Square, to publicize the release of the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.
In 2006 Guinness World Records disallowed an application from a then fourteen-year-old Nepalese boy, Khagendra Thapa Magar, who measured 53 cm, but reviewed the case once he reached 18 years of age in October 2010, when he was measured at 67 cm.