In an attempt to reach new heights, a Minnesota man underwent multiple limb lengthening surgeries to add five inches to his frame.
Feeling insecure about his 5 feet, 5 inch stature, Miles Gibson, 41, tried everything from medications to a spiritual healer to increase his height, according to the Mirror. When those didn’t work, he turned to the painful bone-breaking surgery as his only option — and he didn’t just do it once. He did it twice.
“I’ve struggled with height, I don’t know whether ‘heightism’ is what they call it, but being on the shorter side for men,” Gibson explained. “It was my self-confidence in general, and with the ladies. It affected my dating life.”
Gibson was able to add three inches after his first surgery in 2016, making him 5 feet, 8 inches. The second surgery took place just last month in March, which he hopes will bring him to 5 feet, 10 inches tall.
While the procedure may have given him a leg up in the dating game, it also left him with a hefty price tag of over $170,000 and several months of rehabilitation. Still, he would recommend it for anyone who wants it.
“I’d advise anybody who wants this to go for it, it’s definitely worth it,” Gibson said.