Short Man Undergoes Painful Surgical Procedure To Increase His Height

A man of short stature went to great lengths to increase his height by five inches, subjecting himself to excruciating surgeries.

Moses Gibson, hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, suffered from “heightism” from an early age. Being 5ft 5in tall, he struggled to attract women.

The 41-year-old tried medication that promised to help him grow, as well as sought out the aid of a “spiritual healer” in his quest for a taller figure.

He was on the verge of giving up until he discovered a painful procedure that involves breaking multiple bones.

After undergoing his first round of surgery in 2016, Moses gained an extra three inches in height, and he now hopes to attain his target height of 5ft 10in by June following a second surgery.

Despite having spent a whopping $160,000 on the intensive procedures, he insists that it is worth it after years of unhappiness.

Moses said: “I’ve struggled with height, I don’t know whether ‘heightism’ is what they call it, but being on the shorter side for men.

“Even when I was in high school, I was always unhappy with my height. As far back as when I was probably like 15, I realised most of my peers were taller than me.

“It started getting to me gradually. I just didn’t feel good about myself, I was unhappy about it most of the time.”

Moses revealed that his height began affecting his confidence and dating life.

He added: “I used to like clothes and shoes, but I started not feeling happy when I put them on and I wanted to look better.

“It was my self-confidence in general, and with the ladies. It affected my dating life. I used to put things in my shoes to gain a little bit of height, but it wasn’t very much.

“People made comments. Sometimes it wasn’t in a mean way or intending to hurt, but they’d say ‘sh*t dude, you’re short man’ or make a joke of it.”

Motivated by his dissatisfaction with his height, Moses embarked on a search for ways to grow taller, exploring some unconventional tricks.

He explained: “I’m a strong, tough guy, so I was never depressed about it but I went searching to see what I could do about it.

“I bought medication online that promised to make you the height you’re looking for. I took it for a while before realising it was nonsense and stopped it.

“I was talking to some spiritual healer online by e-mail who promised they could heal any problem. I tried talking to them to see if they could help but they just said ‘it all just depends on if you believe it’.”

Having exhausted all other options, a despairing Moses stumbled upon a particular procedure on the internet while in college, and promptly resolved to go through with it.

Moses spent three years working as a software engineer during the day and driving for Uber at night to accumulate the $75,000 required for his first surgery, which elevated his height to 5ft 8in.

In March, he shelled out an additional $98,000 for a second surgery that entailed the breaking of his tibia and fibula bones, followed by the insertion of magnetic, limb-lengthening nails into them.

Moses now must employ a height-lengthening device thrice a day to gently pull the severed bone apart by a millimeter each time. The device stimulates the body to generate new bone tissue to fill the void until he reaches his ultimate height goal of 5ft 10in.

Moses explaining why he opted for a second surgery said:

“After the first procedure, I was happy with it to some extent, but it was always in my mind that I wanted to do the second one to complete it.

“I’m a high achiever, I’m a go-getter so after the first one I thought, with all the heightism, I’ve got the money and I can finish the journey.

“I spoke with the doctor and asked for three more inches. He said after the second surgery it’s a bit more challenging, so two inches will be more reasonable.

“So I’m looking to go to 5’10. I’ll be happy at 5’10. If my body and everything else allows me to go three inches [5’11] then even better.”

Following the four-and-a-half-hour-long surgery, Moses was administered “powerful” pain medication, but acknowledged that it was still excruciatingly uncomfortable at certain times.

Despite the agony, the surgeries have had a profound impact on his confidence and social skills, particularly when interacting with women. He has even succeeded in finding a new girlfriend.

“[After the first one] I became less hesitant and less worried about the result when talking to women. I now have a girlfriend,” he said.

He added: “I started wearing shorts and taking full body pictures which I never used to. It’s a crazy thing nobody should feel that way.”

As it is, Moses right now hopes the most recent surgery will finally make him feel “free”.