The world’s shortest man now is 20-year-old Afshin Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh who is from Iran and measures 2 feet and 1.6 inches. He is 2.7 inches shorter than the 36-year-old Edward “Nino” Hernandez from Colombia who was the previous record holder. This was announced by the Guinness World Records recently.
Even though Afshin is unable to play any sport he loves watching football and supports Iran’s Esteghlal Football Club. Among his favourite players are his fellow Guinness World Records title holders Iran’s Ali Daei and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kind and outgoing, he is very popular among the local residents. Happy, he does wish he could live like other people, and own and drive a car. He can’t travel in the village alone and needs an escort and has to be carried sometimes.
Afshin hails from a remote village which is located in Bukan County in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province and can speak in Kurdish and Persian, using the Farsi dialect.
His body weight when he was born was 700 grams and currently, he is 6.5 kilograms.
Due to his size, Afshin has not been able to attend school and has recently learnt to write his name, much to his delight. His father Esmaeil Ghaderzadeh informed: “Continuing treatment and my son’s physical weakness are the main reasons why he stopped studying, otherwise he has no mental problems.”
Afshin is well-versed in using a smartphone but finds it difficult to carry. “Phones in general are heavy to use for a long time, yet I still manage,” he told the media.
