It is not easy for people of gigantic growth to live in a world where the average height, depending on gender and country of residence, ranges from 160-185 centimeters. And finding love for "giants" is also not easy. These gigantic man and woman found each other and fell in love, but, unfortunately, their love story ended tragically.
Anna Haining Swan's mother had a hard time giving birth to her third daughter: both she and her husband were people of average height, and no one expected that the couple would suddenly give birth to a baby weighing more than seven kilograms! Fortunately, everything worked out, and subsequently Anna had ten more brothers and sisters. But she always remained special in this large family: at the age of four she grew up to 137 cm, and at the age of six she was almost equal in height with her mother: 157 centimeters. At the age of eleven, Anna grew to 188 cm and weighed 96 kilograms, and at fifteen she grew up to 2 meters 10 centimeters. And it still continued to grow. At the same time, Anna was quite proportionally folded, but grew to a record 243 centimeters.
Circus career
Anna was an educated woman, interested in literature and music, and simply adored learning. That is why in 1862 she accepted an offer from Taylor Barnum, owner of the famous Barnum and Bailey circus: Anna was only 16, and she suddenly got the chance to move to New York, earn $ 1000 a month and have enough free time to take lessons. … And so she did: between performances in the circus, she individually studied playing the piano, vocals and acting, and once even played Lady Macbeth on the stage of the theater.
Anna's circus career was also developing successfully: according to the recollections of eyewitnesses, she was always affable, enjoyed communicating with the audience and never looked irritated or tired. Her favorite number was the measurement of the waist: Anna took a tape measure, measured her waist, and then invited the ladies from the audience to compare this size with hers. On average, Anna's waist turned out to be three times wider than that of a woman of average height, which, of course, very flattered the visitors of the performances. It seemed that gigantic growth did not at all prevent Anna from being successful and happy. Except when he nearly killed her.
Too narrow windows
On July 13, 1865, a terrible fire began in the Barnum Museum. All the stairs were instantly engulfed in fire, and Anna could not jump out the window, like other fire victims. She simply could not squeeze into the window openings that were too narrow for her size. Fortunately, a mast crane was found nearby, and eyewitnesses, quickly dismantling part of the building on the third floor, lowered Anna down with it, and in order to hold the rope, it took the efforts of 18 strong men. After this incident, Anna temporarily went home to her family to recover. But she soon returned and went on tour with the circus. And there I met my love.
Kentucky giant
Martin van Buuren Bates, unlike his future wife, was born as an ordinary child and developed completely normally until the age of 6-7. And then suddenly he began to grow uncontrollably. By the age of fourteen, his height was 210 cm, and his weight was 140 kg. There is a lot of controversy about the height of an adult Martin: the Guinness Book of Records claims that his maximum height was 232 centimeters, but many contemporaries claimed that his height was at least 241 cm. At the same time, there were rumors that Martin overestimated his height, because … he was ashamed of his wife, who was taller. But that was later, and while Martin worked as a school teacher - until he was drafted to the front.
In the Confederate Army, Martin received the rank of captain and the glory of "a giant the size of five men and with the strength of fifty." After the war, Martin did not return to work as a teacher: he rightly considered that a career in the circus would be more profitable, and joined one of the traveling circuses. And he won twice: not only earned, but also met his love.
Love in the arena and in life
Anna's manager, who met Martin on tour, was completely delighted with his texture and immediately lured the giant to himself: Martin and Anna began performing together, portraying a married couple of giants, and this show was an overwhelming success. However, they did not pretend for long: Martin and Anna fell in love with each other literally at first sight, and on June 17, 1871, they were married in the church of St. Martin in London. It is interesting that they were crowned by a priest 191 centimeters tall, but he looked quite short against the background of the newlyweds. Queen Victoria herself was invited to the unusual wedding, and she appeared, giving the newlyweds a gold watch inlaid with diamonds.
A year after the wedding, Anna and Martin acquired a plot of land with an area of 0.53 km² and built a house on it, in which they could live comfortably. In the main part of the building, the ceilings were 4, 3 m high, the doors - 2, 6 meters and were very wide. The couple ordered furniture individually, according to their size. At the same time, the back of the house, in which the servants lived and where it was supposed to receive guests, differed in smaller parameters - so that people of ordinary height would feel comfortable.
Two tragedies
Anna and Martin have been married for 17 years, but their happiness was overshadowed by a double tragedy. On May 19, 1872, Anna gave birth to her first child - a girl who had approximately the same parameters as her mother at birth: weight - 8 kilograms 200 grams, height - 68.6 centimeters. To the great grief of her father and mother, the baby was born breathless. Having recovered from their grief, the Bates decided to try again. During the summer tour of 1878, Anna became pregnant again; labor began on January 15, 1879. The first stage of labor lasted 36 hours, and the obstetrician, Dr. Beach, decided that urgent action was needed to save the baby. At first, he tried to use obstetric forceps, but the baby's head was too large, it was not possible to grab it with forceps. Then the obstetrician had to construct "forceps" from scrap materials. Calling a second doctor for help, the obstetrician finally removed the baby - with the help of a thick bandage wrapped around the baby's neck. Anna was relieved of her burden only on January 19, and the child, alas, lived for only 11 hours. His height was 76 centimeters, weight - 10, 5 kilograms, feet were 152 millimeters long. This baby was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest baby, but this, of course, did not comfort the parents.
Anna and Martin no longer tried to become parents.
Quiet life on the farm
After the loss of two kids, the Bates briefly returned to touring, but then realized that they wanted to retire from public life. They spent the next years on their farm. Anna occasionally gave Sunday school lessons, but the couple generally avoided the spotlight. They only attended the local church regularly, and a giant bench was set up specially for them.
Anna Bates died of tuberculosis in 1888, two days before her 42nd birthday. By this time, she was suffering from heart failure, provoked by a goiter of the thyroid gland. Martin, who ordered the carpenter's coffin according to her measurements, ended up with a coffin of the most common size: the craftsman decided that the client had mixed up the numbers. Outraged, Bates sent an angry letter, but Anna's funeral still had to be postponed for three days.
After Anna's death, Bates remarried - this time to a woman of ordinary height, Annette Lavonne Atherby - and lived with her until his death in 1919. He lived for 82 years, which is completely atypical for people of gigantic stature.
