Ghana is in mourning after the death of Sulemana Abdul Samed, the man widely known as Awuche and celebrated as the country’s tallest person.
The 33-year-old died on Monday morning at Tamale Teaching Hospital. He had been admitted after sores on his legs became infected. Despite doctors saying he was responding well to treatment, he did not recover.
Awuche was from Gambaga in northern Ghana. His height made him a local celebrity, and people across the country knew him by name. “Anywhere he went, if they asked where he was from, he would say Gambaga,” his relative Sulemana Abdul Kudus told the BBC. “It gave the community an identity. He was popular and he was generous.”
He stood at 7ft 4in, or 223cm, when the BBC measured him in late 2022. He was diagnosed with gigantism in his 20s, caused by Marfan syndrome, a genetic condition that affects connective tissue. The condition left him with very long limbs and an abnormally curved spine.
Awuche said his growth started suddenly at age 22 while he was working as a butcher in Accra. “I realised my tongue had expanded in my mouth to the extent that I could not breathe properly,” he recalled. “Days later every other part of my body had started increasing in size.”
The condition ended his dream of becoming a driver and made simple things like walking short distances difficult. He also struggled with medical bills for years. That changed recently when Ibrahim Mahama, brother of President John Mahama, stepped in to cover his treatment at Tamale Teaching Hospital and shared an update on his care earlier this month.
Even with those challenges, people who knew him remember his outlook. At the time of the BBC’s 2022 profile, he was still engaging with fans and carrying his celebrity status lightly. His nickname Awuche means “Let’s Go” in Hausa.
Because so many people are expected to come and pay respects, the family decided he will be buried in Tamale instead of Gambaga, to avoid overwhelming the village.
“Everyone is just sad,” Kudus said. “From when he died until now, a lot of people are still coming to the house to find out what exactly happened.”
