Standing at 8 feet, 3 inches, the world's tallest man, 30-year-old Sultan Kosen, is officially off the market, the Huffington Post reports, having married his much smaller girlfriend in Madrid, Turkey on Sunday, Oct. 27.
Kosen's new wife, 21-year-old Merve Dibo, is 5 feet 9 inches, a woman that he met not long after he rose to fame when the Guinness World Records gave him his official title.
"It's really difficult to find a girlfriend," Kosen said back in Sept. 2009 during a trip to the UK. "They are usually scared of me. Hopefully now that I'm famous I'll be able to meet lots of girls. My dream is to be married."
Now four years later, his dream has finally come true. In 2010, Kosen underwent non-invasive radio surgery in Virginia to stop his growth that was caused by a tumor affecting his pituitary gland. He suffered from a rare hormonal disorder called acromegaly that caused him to continue growing into adulthood, and now he uses crutches to help him walk.
According to Guinness World Records, Kosen and Dibo met through mutual friends, and Dibo traveled from her home of Hasaki, in Syria, to his village Dede köy in Turkey to meet him. While the two have only been dating for two months, they say it was love at first sight.
"When I looked into her eyes, I knew it was love," Kosen recalled to Guinness, while Dibo said: "At first everyone around me told me not to marry him because of his height, but I fell in love with his heart, not his height. His height doesn't bother me at all."
Kosen and Dibo are both Muslim, and shared a wedding party following the ceremony with over 1,500 guests, including a representative from Guinness World Records. According to the Agence France-Presse, Kosen's suit was custom-tailored out of nearly 20 feet of fabric. He and Dibo hope to have children very soon.
Click here to see photos of the happy couple together and on their wedding day in Madrid, Turkey.
