The man who is believed to be the tallest male in the world died at the age of 44 from health complications.

Leonid Stadnyk was a Ukrainian peasant farmer who stood at a record-breaking 8 ft 4 inches tall.  However, Stadnyk called his astonishing height a "curse" and refused to be measured for the Guinness World Record books in order to avoid becoming famous.

As a result, Guinness declared Xi Shin, who was 7ft 9 inches, as the world's tallest man.

"We have contacted Stadnyk, but he seems like a very shy guy," said a Guinness World Records spokeswoman, reports Mirror.co.uk. "He doesn't want us around. So we have to stick to what we have."

He died Sunday from a brain hemorrhage.

"To me, my height is a curse, a punishment from God, not something to celebrate. What sin I have committed, I do not know. All my life I have dreamed of being just like everyone else," said the gentle giant.

He added that "I don't want or need the fame that this would bring so I have no desire to be in this Guinness book."

He said that his height interfered with him pursing his passions and developing romantic relationships. He told Mirror.co.uk that he was scared to commit to women "because I don't want to inflict my problems on a wife. I think it would not be fair on her."

He also explained how his height prevented him following his desire to be a veterinarian.

"I was trained as a vet and loved my work," he said. "But gradually I found that I couldn't get the shoes I needed in winter to protect me from the frostbite. I just couldn't keep on with this work."

Instead of becoming a vet, he took over the family farm.

"Stooping from my height to pull up the weeds is not easy, I can tell you. It puts a lot of strain on my back," he said. "I know I'm the tallest man but at the same I often feel one of the most helpless. This life is for smaller people."

Stadnyk's dramatic growth spur began at the age of 12 when a benign brain tumor increased his body's production of a growth hormone.  As a result, he developed giganticism, which caused him to grow about a foot every three years.

Guiness said that it only knows of 10 "confirmed or reliable" cases of people measured at 8 feet or taller, reports the New York Daily News.