Charles Byrne, born in 1761 in Ulster, Ireland, was over 7 feet and 6 inches tall. By age 21, his health was deteriorating rapidly due to then unknown growth disorders which caught the attention of many in the London medical field where he resided. It was during this decline that John Hunter, surgeon and anatomist, offered to pay Charles for his body after his death. Charles feared the mistreatment of his corpse and, in an attempt to thwart would-be body snatchers, he asked his friends to procure a weighted coffin and bury him at sea.
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