Khagendra Thapa Magar, photographed at 19 while promoting the French edition of the “Big Book Incredible”. – DELALANDE RAYMOND / SIPA
Man considered the smallest in the world able to walk died on Friday at the age of 27 in a hospital in Nepal. Khagendra Thapa Magar, who was 67.08 centimeters tall, died of pneumonia in Pokhara, a city 200 kilometers from the capital Kathmandu where he lived with his parents. “He was hospitalized several times for pneumonia and this time his heart was also affected. He is dead today, “said his brother, Mahesh Thapa Magar.
“He was so small when he was born that he could fit in the palm of our hand and it was very hard to get him to bathe,” said his father, Roop Bahadur.
Khagendra Thapa Magar, whose name appeared in the Guinness Records, was first recognized in 2010, after his 18th birthday, as the smallest man in the world who can move on his legs. He was then photographed holding a certificate barely shorter than him. Then he had been stripped of this “title” by Chandra Bahadur Dangi, a compatriot, who measured 54.6 centimeters. And it was on his death in 2015 that Khagendra Thapa Magar had recovered his certificate.
The face of an official campaign to promote tourism in Nepal
Preceded by his notoriety, Khagendra Thapa Magar will have traveled to more than ten countries and will have passed on television in Europe and the United States. “Life can be a challenge when you only weigh six kilograms and you can’t find your place in a world built for average people. But Khagendra has in no way let his small size prevent him from enjoying the best of our lives, “reacted Craig Glenday, the editor of Guinness.
Khagendra Thapa Magar has also been the face of an official campaign to promote tourism in Nepal, which has presented him as the smallest man in the country that hosts the highest mountain on the planet, Everest. After his death, his “title” goes to a Colombian, Edward “Nino” Hernandez, whose height is 70.21 centimeters. The shortest man in the world unable to walk or stand without help is the Filipino Junrey Balawing, who is only 59.93 centimeters tall.
World’s smallest man featured in New York
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