Igor Vovkovinskiy, who measures seven feet, eight-and-a-third inches tall, flew across the US to Reebok's headquarters in Massachusetts for a rather unique shoe fitting.
After sixteen foot operations in six years and a lifetime of ill-fitting shoes left America's tallest man "a prisoner" of his own home, the US sportswear manafacturer came to the Minnesota giant's aid.
At Reebok's headquarters in Canton, Mr Vovkovinskiy underwent a complex process that included custom pressure-mounting equipment, bio-foam imprints, a powerful three-dimension scanner, a handful of technicians and a tape measure.
"We have to pay attention to a lot of different things," explained Ambrose Hayes, team leader for development of men's performance footwear at Reebok.
"We have to think about his medical conditions, how his feet are going to change. Physically just how big they are is a huge challenge."
Taking the measurements was particularly complicated because the Ukrainian-born 29-year-old has unusual shaped feet following the numerous operations he has undergone.
The initial damage to his feet came from wearing shoes that did not fit, according to Mr Vovkovinskiy, who moved to the US with his mother for treartment of his condition – known as pituitary gigantism – at the age of seven.
Medical insurers, he explained, have ignored his pleas for help in subsidising proper-fitting shoes for his size 21 feet.
Nor did they respond to numerous letters from doctors "stating that 'it would be a lot cheaper to make shoes that fit his body than to keep having surgeries'."
His condition forced him to launch an online campaign to raise $16,000 (£9,900) to pay for a custom-fit new pair of shoes.
Expecting to take more than a year to raise the money, the gentle giant quickly raised the money however, after social-media sites and news reports fuelled interest from donors.
Then US trainer making giant Reebok called, offering to help for free, having previously made a pair of shoes for Mr Vovkovinskiy nine years ago.
"The enormous generosity that people have shown to me – I've raised a lot of money, almost twice the amount that I've asked for when I started the fund – and I'm hoping that with this money I will be able to basically have shoes for myself for the rest of my life," the Minnesotan said.
The sportswear manafacturer says it is making the shoes at a cost of between $12,000 to $20,000 US dollars (£7,500 – £12,000), and it will take to six weeks to create prototypes for Mr Vovkovinskiy to try out, which they will then fine-tune to produce proper-fitting shoes.
All he wants, he told assembled reporters, are shoes that fit so he can get outside, walk his dog and enjoy his life.
"I have basically been a prisoner of my own home," Mr Vovkovinskiy explained. "Even though I am medically cleared to walk, where am I going to go in shoes that are so painful?"
The damage to his huge feet came from wearing shoes that did not fit, said Vovkovinskiy, who lives in Rochester, Minnesota.
Vovkovinskiy is originally from Ukraine, but moved with his mother to Minnesota for treatment of his condition – known as pituitary gigantism – when he was seven.
He was 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall at the time.
He said his life changed when the series of operations began.
That forced him to spend about three years on bed rest, during which time his muscles weakened and he gained weight.
His condition forced him to launch an online campaign to raise 16 thousand US dollars to pay for a custom-fit new pair of shoes.
He said he expected to take more than a year to raise the money.
But social-media sites and news reports fuelled interest from donors and he was able to raise the money overnight.
"The enormous generosity that people have shown to me – I've raised a lot of money, almost twice the amount that I've asked for when I started the fund – and I'm hoping that with this money I will be able to basically have shoes for myself for the rest of my life," he said.
Then Reebok called, offering to help him again for free.
Vovkovinskiy says he plans to use the money he raised online to set up a shoe fund for life.
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