World’s Tallest Woman Takes Her first Flight After the Airline Modifies several seats

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Rumeysa Gelgi, the world’s tallest living woman, recently boarded an airplane from her home country of Turkey to San Francisco.

However, it wasn’t just any flight. It was Gelgi’s first, and one that highlighted a growing attention to accessibility.

Gelgi, 25, stands at 7 feet, 0.7 inches tall. Her proportions are a result of Weaver syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes bone overgrowth. She has been a Guinness World Record celebrity since her teens, and holds records in several size-related categories, including the longest fingers on a living person and the longest back on a living female person.

Gelgi regularly travels to share her story, and uses her warm wit to spread body positivity on social media. However, despite her international profile, she had never flown on an airplane before. Like many people with Weaver syndrome, Gelgi uses mobility aids to get around, and a long flight would require special accommodation for her extraordinary frame.
–CNN

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But in September, Gelgi finally took to the skies. In an Instagram post a few weeks later, she shared photos from her trip aboard Turkish Airlines, which was made possible after the airlines removed several seats on the plane so Gelgi could rest comfortably on a stretcher during the 13-hour journey from Istanbul to California.