A peasant farmer from the northwestern Ukrainian village of Podoliantsy who held the record of world’s tallest man has died at 44.

Leonid Stadnyk died on Aug. 24 from a cerebral hemorrhage, linked to health problems caused by his height, news reports said.

Stadnyk was almost 2.6 meters tall.

His height became abnormal when he was 14 as a benign tumor in his brain caused a gland to continually produce growth hormones. He grew at a rate of roughly 1 foot every three years.

He was named the world’s tallest man by Guinness World Records in 2007, but he later refused to be measured and lost his title to another gigantic man.

By Um Yoon-sun (uys@heraldcorp.com)