High there! At 7ft 1in, meet the real-life BFG
‘People stop and stare all the time’
A PECK on the cheek from your girlfriend is not usually too tall an order. But if, like William Jewell, you are 7ft 1in, then a step ladder is the only way she can reach when you’re standing up straight.
Luckily, Selina Swift, 19, is happy to oblige for the camera – and has nicknamed him her BFG, or Big Friendly Giant, after the Roald Dahl character.
It is not just 5ft 9in Miss Swift that he towers over. His family are taller than average – father John, 65, a retired businessman, is 6ft 3in, while his mother Bever- ley, 55, and sister Emma, 23, are both 5ft 10in – but he dwarfs them all too. S t udent William, 21, weighed 8lb 1oz at birth and was ‘a long baby’, according to his mother, a marketing director. By 13 he was 6ft 3in and now has a 38in inside leg, a 34in waist, and size 15 feet, and often has to have his clothes specially made. He is too big to fit a bed without his legs hanging over the end. William, 21, f rom High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: ‘People stop and stare all the time. I get asked the full works – “Are you on stilts?”, “What’s the weather like up there?” – it’s relentless. Miss Swift said: ‘He’s my Big Friendly Giant. When I met him I couldn’t believe the height, but he’s a gentle giant and he is great company.’
His height is not linked to any medical condition. His parents put it down to him drinking a lot of milk when he was young, and think he may have inherited a ‘double tall gene’ from them. The average height for British men is 5ft 10in and 5ft 4in for women.
William, who is studying business management at Bath Spa University, eats an average of 3,500 calories a day, way above the recommended daily amount of 2,500, to keep his energy up. He plays basketball for his university and Bristol Flyers.
Ducking is a necessity when he walks through a door, but his height makes him useful around the house – he can change light bulbs without a ladder. Britain’s tallest man is actor Neil Fingleton, who is 7ft 7in. The tallest Briton ever was 7ft 9in William Bradley who died in 1820.