I watched a documentary (sort-off anyway) about Alexander Sizonenko οn his post-basketball life on Channel 1 the other night and I gotta say I was sick at heart.
Alexander Sizonenko was a Ukrainian basketball player and even played in the USSR National Team. He was (and is) a real giant.
How can a whole state, a whole basketball federation, all the Russian multimillionaire basketball players let a man to slowly die in a basement of Saint Petersburg?
Sizonenko is a one of a kind case as he still keeps growing at the age of 48 and is now 241 cm!!! (Some suggest that he has gained some more height since he was last measured)
Gunther von Hagens offered to buy his body for a monthly check of $150 but he refused...
The poor guy still wears his Soviet era pants because he can't find new pants at his size and he can't afford to order one.
From wikipedia:
Alexander Alekseyevich Sizonenko (Russian: Александр Алексеевич Сизоненко;born July 20, 1959 in the village Zaporizhia, Kherson Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a giant, last measured at 239 centimetres (7 ft 10 in), a former Soviet basketball player. Sizonenko has continued to grow since this measurement was taken. Sizonenko formerly played basketball for the Soviet Union but because of his enormous growth his mobility is increasingly impaired. He got an offer from plastinator Gunther von Hagens for his body but he declined the offer. He played professionally for Spartak Leningrad (1976–1978) and for Builder Kiev (1979–1986). Sizonenko was also a member of the Soviet national team and appeared on its behalf for 12 games. He now lives in Saint Petersburg.
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