Andre’s size alone had disqualified him from military service, but even if the army had been able to provide him with a larger uniform, it’s possible he still would have been exempt. His tremendous size and strength helped to make him a beloved star internationally, but they were the result of a serious medical condition.
On a wrestling tour in Japan (where he was billed as Monster Roussimoff), Andre had a medical exam, reports CBS. The doctor diagnosed him with the glandular disorder acromegaly, sometimes referred to as “giantism.” According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, this rare condition causes the pituitary gland to create too much growth hormone. In addition to growing larger than average, the condition can cause chronic joint pain and lead to conditions like heart disease.
Andre never told his family about the diagnosis, and as noted by CBS, refused treatment. Later in life, when the condition would become life-threatening he continued to refuse treatment, even when the doctors told him that they needed to operate. His close friend Jackie McAuley recalled him saying, “If this is the size that God wanted me to be, I’m going to be this size.”
In the documentary, “Andre the Giant: Most Famous Professional Wrestler in the World,” promoter Arnold Skaaland explained that Andre knew “that he didn’t have long to live … that was in the back of his mind … all the time. That’s why he drank and just did whatever he wanted to do, just to enjoy what time he had.”
