He Pingping

Early and personal life

He measured 74 cm (2 ft 5 in) tall, and was the third child of a family in Huade county, in the city of Ulanqab in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He had two sisters, both of whom developed at normal rates. According to his father, He Yun, at birth he was small enough to fit in the palm of his parents' hands. When it became apparent the child was growing very slowly, doctors diagnosed the cause as the bone deformity osteogenesis imperfecta, which hinders normal bone growth and body height. He was a chain smoker.

Recognition of size

In January 2007, He was invited to take part on a television program in Tokyo, Japan. His home of Inner Mongolia is also home to Bao Xishun, who at 2.36 metres tall was recognized by Guinness as the world's tallest man until September 2009. Their televised meeting in July 2007 attracted global media attention. In May 2008 he appeared in the British Channel 4 documentary called The World's Smallest Man and Me hosted by Mark Dolan. In the episode He and his family spent time with Mark who stayed over to celebrate Chinese New Year. In September 2008 he appeared with the world's longest-legged woman, Svetlana Pankratova, in London's Trafalgar Square, to publicize the release of the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 2006 Guinness World Records disallowed an application from a then fourteen-year-old Nepalese boy, Khagendra Thapa Magar, who measured 53 cm, but reviewed the case once he reached 18 years of age in October 2010, when he was measured at 67 cm.

Following his January 2007 appearance on television, in 2008 his status as the world's shortest man was verified by Guinness World Records. His height was measured three times over the course of 10 hours before he received a certificate officially naming him as the world’s shortest man.

In September 2008, he travelled to the U.S. to help launch the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records in. New York City, which certified him as the world's smallest man.

On 25 April 2010, He was featured in the tenth episode of the 16th season of the American reality show, The Amazing Race, filmed earlier in Shanghai. The episode was dedicated in his memory.

Death

He was admitted to a hospital on 3 March 2010 in Rome, after complaining of chest pains. He had been filming Lo show dei record. He died on 13 March 2010, at the age of twenty-one of heart complications. The Guinness World Records editor-in-chief, Craig Glenday, said that he was "an inspiration to anyone considered different or unusual."