World's shortest man is now 2 feet tall

The world's shortest man is Junrey Balawing, and he celebrated his 18th birthday today by being officially measured at 59.93 centimeters — 23.5 inches, just under two feet tall.

Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday traveled to the rural township of Sindangan in Zamboanga del Norte, on the Philippines' southern island of Mindanao, to take the measurement in front of cheering relatives, villagers, and a crush of reporters. Balawing took the title from Nepal's Khagendra Thapa Magar, who had measured just over 26 inches when certified in 2010.

Junrey is the oldest of four children of Reynaldo Balawing, a blacksmith, and Concepcion Balawing. He stopped growing when he was two years old; local doctors who examined him as a child could not diagnose the condition. The rest of his siblings are of normal stature. He has difficulty standing for long periods and needs assistance when walking. His parents briefly enrolled him in a regular school but pulled him out after crowds of curious children nearly crushed him, a reminder that behind the novelty of the record is a young man navigating daily life at a scale the rest of us never think about.

Asked for his reaction after blowing out a candle on a birthday cake, Junrey summed it up in the local dialect in a tiny voice: "Kapoy" — I'm tired.

His uncle, the local village chief, said friends and relatives are fiercely protective of Junrey, and that some in the community consider his condition a lucky charm. Wads of cash handed to him by well-wishers, his parents said, would go toward the family's meagre savings.