Johannesburg - A woman who has not cut her nails since 1997 in memory of her daughter has been added to the Guinness World Records for the longest fingernails on a pair of hands ever (female) with nails that are 13.0658 metres (42 feet 10.4 inches) long.
Diana Armstrong from the US shared in her Guinness World Records interview that she has no plans to cut her nails as that is the last connection she has to her daughter, who did her nails the night before she passed away unexpectedly in her sleep at the age of 16.
Armstrong said: “I have been growing my nails for 24 years. I went through something when my daughter passed away in 1997. She is the only one who did my nails, she polished them and filed them for me.
“When I got up to go to make groceries, I woke up and I told my kids to get up and clean up and, while at the store, my other baby girl called me and told me ‘Mom, Tisha won’t wake up’. She was 16 and she had died of an asthma attack in her sleep.”
Armstrong added: “She had done my nails the night before. We were up all night so I could not cut my nails off after that. Even when my kids told me that I needed to cut my nails off, I would tell them to mind their business.”
Armstrong’s daughter, Raina Armstrong, was also interviewed to find out what she thought of their mother’s nails and the reason behind it. She said: “When she told us the back story that it was because of my sister, it kind of changed my feelings towards it because, just as much as she missed my sister, I missed her too. So if that’s her way of holding on to her then I accept.”
The maintenance of the nails is quite hard but Armstrong has had help maintaining her nails from her grandchildren who are fascinated by them and absolutely enjoy being a part of the process which is quite tedious as it takes about 4 to 5 hours to do one nail.
Raina said: “My children love her nails, they pay extra attention”
A power tool is required to file the nails and she goes through 15 to 20 bottles of nail polish at a time for her nails.
“I haven’t been to a nail salon in about 22 years. When they see me they say, ‘oh no’. I do them every four to five years but nowadays I won’t let them get done any more. The last time I painted these nails was this week and it took four days,” said Armstrong.
She relies on her children and grandchildren for assistance and even uses her feet when she can but she has also adjusted to using her hands without damaging her nails.
“I use my feet if i have to pick up clothes from the floor and even use my feet to open the refrigerator,” she said.
Armstrong has also not been able to live a completely normal life as she was afraid that people would judge her when they saw her nails. However the recognition she has received has given her the confidence to share her story.
“These nails are always a part of me because of my daughter that died and I always kept her close to me this way,” said Armstrong.
IOL