Sandy Allen may be the tallest woman in the world but her age was certainly not. At the age of 53, the woman from Shelbyville, who boasted her 2.31 meter height in Guinness World Record, died on Wednesday at a private nursing home in Indiana.

 

Allen, once appealed to Guinness World Records for help in finding a tall companion, had been suffering from various disorders for many years. In her last days, she was confined to a wheel chair at her home, the heritage House in Shelbyville.

 

In her letter to Guinness in 1974, she wrote that she would like to get to know someone who was approximately her height. She lamented about her social life and hoped to open up her life with some publicity.

 

She appeared in several TV shows and also wrote a book called “Cast A Giant Shadow”. She occasionally spoke to school groups about her acceptance of her height.

 

Allen was born in Chicago and diagnosed a tumor on her pituitary gland. This tumor was reportedly the cause of her abnormal growth. She had  a surgery on the gland at the age of 22.

 

She appeared as Angelina the Giantess in the Oscar winning Fellini movie Casanova and was the theme of numerous Television documentaries. “She accepted the title of ‘Tallest Woman’ with pride and became an international figure”. Said Guinness Book editor-in-chief Craig Glendav.

 

She was living with 115 old Edna Parker, another resident of the home, who Guinness recognizes as the world’s oldest living person.