Video – Watch Warwickshire primary pupils meet Britain’s tallest man Paul Sturgess
HOW big is your bed? Where do you get your clothes from? What car do you drive? These are the questions school children can’t wait to ask Paul Sturgess, Britain’s tallest man.
Measuring 7ft 7.26 inches, Paul is a former professional basketball player who moved to America when he was 17. He turned professional after he graduated at college and played for the Harlem Globetrotters.
Now aged 36, Paul visits schools all over the country – on Tuesday it was Tudor Grange, at Meon Vale – to encourage children to be inspired and embrace who they are instead of trying to be somebody else – a lesson he learnt as a youngster as he was stared at all the time for being so much taller than everyone else.
“It still happens today,” Paul told the Herald. “People stop and stare at me wherever I go but I don’t mind, I’ve had it all my life, and there is a wow factor reaction because people then want to speak to me about my height. I embraced this when I was young and I’ve achieved so many wonderful things because of my height.”
Paul – who is self-employed – thoroughly enjoys visiting schools and is usually on the road by 6am covering thousands of miles each year as he seeks to spread his motivational message to thousands of pupils.
He also has a unique way of getting their attention during assembly. “I sit down on a chair and wait for the children to come into the school hall,” Paul said. “Then I stand up and once they’ve got over the shock, they are in awe and their eyes light up and they want to ask lots of questions.
“They realise I’m just a normal guy. It was a fun-filled day at Tudor Grange School and I showed the pupils lots of basketball tricks but I also wanted them to embrace a positive attitude and to back their dreams, whatever they might be. It’s a difficult time for children with the pressures of social media but you don’t have to be someone else and you don’t have to have brilliant white teeth – just be yourself.”
And the answers to the questions: his bed is custom-made, his clothes come from America and he drives a BMW.
