Hard life and isolation for world's tallest man

PODOLYANTSI, Ukraine, Aug 12 (Reuters) Being named the world's tallest man has meant very little for Leonid Stadnyk, scraping together a living with his mother in a tiny village in central Ukraine.

Guinness World Records gave the accolade to him last week. But Stadnyk is prouder of the present from local authorities on his 37th birthday -- a bathroom with a shower tall enough to fit his 2.53-metre (8-foot, four-inch) frame.

''I don't need glory. I just want a normal life under normal conditions,'' Stadnyk told Reuters, dwarfing an armchair outside his modest bungalow.

''I want to say to people -- everyone is different, just as there are no two identical apples in a barrel. But the world is built for medium-sized people.'' The Ukrainian's extraordinary height has been a heavy burden, rather than a blessing.

His spectacular growth began at about age 10 or 12. He is reluctant to discuss the details, though local media say a brain operation set off hormonal problems that kept him growing.

He was, nonetheless, gifted at school and became a veterinarian after travelling 50 km every day to the town of Zhytomyr, where student dormitories were unable to find a bed big enough to accommodate him.

But he had to quit the job as he just kept on growing. His size ruled out using normal transport and he resorted to a horse and cart, hardly suitable for a job entailing speedy travel.

Unable to find shoes that fit, Stadnyk's feet suffered from frostbite in winter. His hands became too big to use some of the equipment, and his health deteriorated as his organs worked overtime to support such a towering build.

SMALL PENSION, FARMYARD He and his mother live off a pension equivalent to 100 dollar a month and whatever else they earn from growing tomatoes and cucumbers and raising chickens, cows and pigs.

Barely a village, Podolyantsi is a collection of ramshackle, yet tidy, houses 200 km west of the capital Kiev in a region traditionally considered ''the breadbasket of Europe''.

The glitter of consumer-oriented Kiev fades into a region dotted by forests and sky-blue lakes. Flashy foreign vehicles are replaced by Ladas and Soviet-era trucks, which swerve to avoid the occasional horse-drawn cart.

For Stadnyk, the simplest of things poses problems.

His mobile phone disappears into the grasp of one of his hands and the small keys make it difficult to use. But most frustrating is lack of mobility and dependence on others.

''There is nothing here. No schools, no library, no cultural centre,'' he said. A bus, he said, might solve the problem.

His mother now walks on crutches. Stadnyk also finds walking difficult: his feet simply cannot take the weight of his body.

Present during the discussion is regional doctor Leonid Pavlyuk, who said Stadnyk had complained of heart problems the night before. The doctor said his health was ''stable''.

Andriy Danylov, head of the local authority which built the oversize shower, says Stadnyk is also provided with hormonal medication, produced abroad and requiring government permission.

''He needs not just the status of a handicapped person, but government protection, a special status,'' Danylov said.

Stadnyk hopes for practical things, like transport, farm machinery and maybe something more.

''I dream of (marriage) but I have problems and I don't want to pass my burdens onto the shoulders of a wife,'' he said.

''Doctors tell me I will live for a long time. I hope it will be in happiness.'' REUTERS SW VC0835