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| TURKISH AIRLINES BOEING 777-3F2 TC-JJH (MSN 40792) |
The tallest woman in the world has made her first trip by plane with the help of Turkish Airlines.
Rumeysa Gelgi, who is in the Guinness Book of Records for her 2.15-meter (about 7-foot) height, boarded the San Francisco-bound plane with her wheelchair before laying on the stretcher for the 13-hour flight.
Turkish Airlines converted 6-seats on the aircraft into stretchers for Gelgi to lie-down throughout the flight.
Prior to the flight, she told reporters at Istanbul Airport that she was very excited to travel by plane for the first time, and that this flight was important for patients like her who need a stretcher.
The 25-year-old software developer is travelling to the US to collaborate with Guinness for an event and to help develop her professional career.
“This will be my first flight as well as my first travel overseas. But I believe that this experience will be a first for many individuals, not just me. Because as you know, the option of traveling as a stretcher passenger is generally reserved for patients who are being transferred from one intensive care unit to another,” Gelgi said.
“It is an alternative for patients who are referred from one hospital to another and need an ambulance. However, because I couldn’t sit for lengthy periods of time due to my scoliosis, or spine curvature disorder, I had to fly on a stretcher.”
Gelgi has Weaver syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes bone overgrowth. Although there is no cure, people with this condition can live healthy lives.
She says she is using her world record title to advocate and raise awareness of the condition.
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