Kudus told the BBC the sores on Ache’s legs were not directly caused by Marfan syndrome – but likely to be a complication caused by his condition.

He had died on Monday morning at the hospital despite doctors saying he had been responded well to treatment.

“Everyone is just sad,” Kudus said, adding that the residents of Gambaga were shocked by his sudden death.

Awuche had made their village famous.

”Anywhere he found himself in the country and they asked him, he would say he is from Gambaga and people knew that was where the tallest man was from. It gave the community identity, and he was popular as well,” Kudus said.

Awuche had not always been unusually tall – it was at the age of 22 that he started to grow quicker than his peers.

He told the BBC he had been working at a butchers in Ghana’s capital city, Accra, when he first started to notice changes.

“I realised my tongue had expanded in my mouth to the extent that I could not breath [properly],” he said.

Days later he realised every other part of his body had started increasing in size. Awuche was eventually diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, which affects the body’s connective tissues.