Igor Vovkovinskiy, Who At 7-Foot-8 Was The Tallest Man In The U.S., Has Died

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Igor Vovkovinskiy, the country’s tallest person at 7-foot-8, died in Minnesota at the age of 38. His family says he died of heart disease.

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Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP

Vovkovinskiy met President Barack Obama during a health care reform rally in 2009, when the president noticed him near the stage wearing a T-shirt that read, «World’s Biggest Obama Supporter.»

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Ben Garvin/AP

Vovkovinskiy appeared on «The Dr. Oz Show» and was called out by President Barack Obama during a campaign rally in 2009, when the president noticed him near the stage wearing a T-shirt that read, «World’s Biggest Obama Supporter.» In 2013, he carried the Ukrainian contestant onto the stage to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest.

When he was 27, Vovkovinskiy traveled to New York City and was declared America’s tallest living person by a Guinness World Records adjudicator on Oz’s show. He edged out a sheriff’s deputy in Virginia by one-third of an inch.

He issued a plea in 2012 to cover the estimated $16,000 cost for specially made shoes that wouldn’t cause him crippling pain. At the time, he said he hadn’t owned a pair for years that fit his size 26, 10E feet. Thousands donated more than double what he needed. Reebok provided the custom shoes for free.

Vovkovinskiy was born Sept. 8, 1982, in Bar, Ukraine, to Vovkovinska and Oleksandr Ladan, according to Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home, which is holding a memorial service on Saturday. His father died earlier.