28-year-old Joelison Fernandes da Silva developed gigantism as a child and his rapidly soaring height forced him to drop out of school due to bullying.
Then, he refused to leave the family house for years.
However, true happiness eventually found the shy Brazilian in the form of Evem Medeiros; a 5ft 21-year-old woman he met online.
“When he got to eight years old I knew he was growing at an abnormal rate and by the time he was 14 he was already 6ft 4in,” Joelison's mother Ivanilde Fernandes da Silva said.
Later on, doctors discovered that he had a benign tumor on his pituitary gland, causing his body to produce uncontrolled amounts of growth hormone.
In 2007, after some convincing from his family, he agreed to have it removed.
The successful operation helped slow his growth but he still sprouted another four inches to his current height of 7ft 8in.
As a celebrity in his homeland he began to attract admirers, including new wife Evem.
She contacted him on Facebook to wish him happy birthday and they swapped numbers before starting a committed relationship two months later.
“I thought everything about her was beautiful - but especially her eyes.”
Just a year later they were married and it didn't take them long to start trying for a family.
“We want to have a family so I track my dates, times, temperature, everything,” she said.
However, he still has plans to fulfill many of his dreams, including having a family and travelling abroad. He also finally finished his high-school education last year after studying at home.