The World’s Longest Fingernails Have Been Trimmed After 66 Years
A man had been growing his fingernails for over 66 years, when a museum finally convinced him to trim the nails off.
By on July 13, 2018
For those of us who can’t even seem to go more than a couple weeks without breaking a nail, it’s hard to imagine going 66 years. This guy, named Shridhar Chillal, hasn’t trimmed the nails on his left hand since 1952. That is, until this week when they were put on display at a museum.
Shridhar recalls a story from his youth. He was at school, and a teacher had apparently given him a hard time about his nails. He says “I don’t know if the teacher is dead now or not, but I would definitely like to say the thing that you scolded me for, I took it as a challenge.” In total length, his nails measure 909.6 centimeters, which works out to almost 30 feet. The now trimmed nails are roughly 6 feet each. A lifetime of growing fingernails doesn’t come without consequence though. Shridhar’s left hand is permanently closed together – he can’t move his fingers at all, even after the trim.
But the good news is that the nails are going into a museum. The “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” museum in New York is where they’re going. They promised Shridhar that they would take care of the nails to preserve them for a long time. “It was a very difficult decision for me to cut my nails, but when I realised after cutting them they’d be at Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and the museum is going to maintain them … then I felt like I was making the right decision, and that’s when I decided to cut my nails,” Shridhar says. What’s the longest you’ve ever gotten your nails to grow? When do you trim them? See some more on the story here.
