A dream for many people around the world is getting in the Guinness Book of World Records. People may do it for a wide variety of reasons, but a woman in Houston, Texas, has made it into the record books for an unusual reason.
Her name is Ayanna Williams and in 2018, she became the record holder for having the longest fingernails of any woman. At this point, you’re probably wondering exactly how long they are. When you combine her fingernails together, they are 18 feet, 9 inches long.
When you first look at Ayanna, you might feel a little odd. She gave an interview recently and talked about how her nails were painted a shade of coral pink so you might wonder if it looks like a bundle of crab legs.
In the end, she really is happy with her decision. She says: “They’re just an extension of me. Some people act grossed out by them, but I don’t care. I think they’re incredibly beautiful and special.”
Ayanna does admit that there are some aspects of life that are challenging because of her nails. This includes certain chores that could put her nails in danger so she avoids the chores.
She started growing her nails 24 years ago and doesn’t remember why she began doing it in the first place. She said she was dating a guy at the time and “I had let them grow a little long – maybe 3 inches. He seemed to like it and encouraged me to keep going. Next thing I knew I had these.”
Ayanna is a nail technician by trade, so she not only cares for her own nails, she takes care of other people’s nails as well. She does have to be careful that she doesn’t break her nails at work and she has become somewhat obsessed with keeping them from breaking.
Now that she is in the record books, she plans to keep going. When she was asked if she thought she would ever cut them, she said: “If I can’t make a decent living like I would like to, I might have to cut them. That and my health would be the only reasons.”