Man With The World’s Longest Fingernails Finally Decides To Trim Them After 66 Years

July 12, 2018

After 66 years, the man with the longest fingernails ever recorded on a single hand has finally trimmed them.

Shridhar Chillal, who hails from Pune, India has been growing his fingernails since 1952 but has decided to finally cut them over six decades later.

At the time of the nail-trimming, the 82-year-old man’s fingernails reached a total length of 909.6 cm (almost 30 feet). His thumbnail, which was the longest of the set, measured at an incredible 197.8cm (77.8 inches).

Chillal, who is married and has two children, first appeared in Guinness World Records 1979 when his nails measured a combined length of 219.7 cm (86.5 inches).

According to the Guinness World Records, Chillal began growing his nails at age 14 after a teacher scolded him for accidentally breaking his long nail. The teacher told the young Chillal that he would never understand how difficult it was to take care of such long fingernails.

In a bid to prove his teacher wrong, the student went on to dedicate his life to taking care of his own long nails.

“I don’t know whether the teacher is dead now or not but I would definitely like to say that the thing for which you scolded me, I took it as a challenge and I have completed the challenge and now, I am here,” he told Sky News.

Chillal said that while cutting his nails was not an easy decision to make, he finally gave in after learning that his fingernails will be permanently displayed at Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Times Square, in New York City, New York.

“When I decided to cut my nails, it was difficult for me to make this decision. But when I realized that after cutting my nails, my nails will be at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and they’re going to maintain it very nicely and for a lifetime, then I felt like I was doing the right decision and that’s why I decided to cut my nails.”

The length of his fingernails may have caused him health problems including loss of function in his left hand due to their weight and length, as well as his fingers being permanently fused together. Despite this, he was still able to work as a government photographer for 22 years.

Featured image via YouTube / Ripley’s Believe It or Not

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