The Woman with the Longest Nails in the World Struggles with Everyday Tasks

Diana Armstrong makes history with her record breaking long nailsYoutube

Although you find terrific and often mind-blowing feats achieved by people who have entered the Guinness world of records for various achievements, some of the accomplishments leave you with more questions than answers.

One such person who has managed to jot her name on the Guinness world of records is 64-year-old Diana Armstrong, who has the longest nails in the world because, unlike most people, Diana hasn’t had a single nail on her fingers cut for the last 25 years. As a result, her nails measure 42 -feet-10 — inches long and need 15–20 bottles of nail polish to paint them.

Nevertheless, Diana acknowledges the downsides to having such massively long nails as she finds difficulty in doing everyday tasks such as zipping up her pants, opening cans, or even using the bathroom as her long fingernails don’t fit the stalls of public bathrooms.

However, Diana didn’t always have such long nails, and the thought of keeping her nails only occurred to her when she lost her 16-year-old daughter Latisha who often did her manicure during the weekends. The grief of the sudden loss of Latisha drove Diana to quit her job and solely focus on growing her nails.

According to Psychologists, grief is a complex, painful whirl of thoughts and emotions triggered by losing someone very close. Because different people process grief differently, one constant factor is that grief influences how an individual thinks and perceives their world

Diana Armstrong

Although Diana didn’t say whether she sought the help of therapy in dealing with her grief, she did say that her daughter was the last person to take care of her nails. As a result, she never let anyone else come close to her nails. Remembering her daughter with fondness, Diana said,

“She was the only one who did my nails. She polished them and filed them for me. I think Latisha would be proud of me because she’s the last one who did my nails. That’s who I think of when I grow my nails, is my daughter.”

In other words, Diana’s Nails are like a shrine to remember the young daughter she lost.

As sad as Diana’s story is, her grief or the decision to never cut her nails has cost her a lot. Diana has long given up on her work, but she also gave up driving as her long nails make it impossible to ride in a car, let alone drive one.

Daily tasks like washing herself or even picking up something from the ground are impossible undertakings for her. Regarding how her long nails limit her, Diana said,

“If I have to pick up money off the floor, I can pick up bills, but if I drop change on the floor, that will just stay down there. And in public restrooms, I need to use the biggest stall — my nails are usually longer than the regular-sized stalls.”

Nevertheless, besides the difficulties that her new record-breaking nails impose on her, including basic tasks such as dressing herself, Diana is happy with her nails and appreciates the attention they draw. As she is used to getting stares from people, Diana is no longer self-conscious about her nails. Instead, she is content with it all.

No doubt, grief can drive people to do things that society might deem unacceptable, but if Diana’s nails are what keeps the memory of her daughter close to her heart, who are we to judge?