A hairy tale

Class of 2004 Aggie sets Guinness World Record for longest leg hair

By: Alexis Arguello

Posted: 11/26/07

Some people have gone to extremes to have a chance at being in the Guinness Book of World Records, but what about just taking advantage of something that you already have? That is exactly what Wesley Pemberton did - with his 5-inch leg hair.

Pemberton, Class of 2004, majored in biomedical science and is in his final year of medical school in Dallas. He came across his lengthy leg hair in June.

"I was sitting in the car with my mother-in-law and my wife, and I opened the door and this breeze just came through and this thing was just like waving in the air," Pemberton said. "At first I thought the hair belonged to one of the girls, and I reached in to take it off and it was attached!"

Pemberton said he went home and joked about his hair, saying it was the longest in the world. After saying this, Pemberton measured his hair, which was between 3 1/2 and four inches long.

After measuring his hair, Pemberton looked up the longest hair on record and saw that the title had been held since 2005 by a man in Australia with 4.88 inch long hair.

"From there I just kinda forgot about it," Pemberton said.

In September, as Pemberton was getting out of the shower, he wondered if the hair had grown, so he measured it. It had grown 1 inch and was at 4 1/2 inches.

"At this point I was thinking…well, maybe it will get long enough to get into the world record," he said. "So from here, I really got serious. I took care of it and I washed it and conditioned it daily."

Pemberton said he stopped wearing shorts for a while and occasionally when his wife would sit on his lap, he would yell at her to watch out for his leg.

"I thought it'd be a really neat topic of conversation, at least," he said. "My friends and wife would make fun of it and want to yank it out, but I protected it, of course."

Pemberton investigated what it took to be able to get into the Guinness Book of World Records and found that there were two ways of entering. One was free and the other was pricey, with costs totaling $300. Pemberton decided to go the free way.

To fulfill the application requirements, he needed an official measurement with two unrelated witnesses and the media to go along with it.

"I'm from Scurry, Texas, so I'd originally thought that I would get it officially measured there, but my mom was so embarrassed and said 'No, you can't do it here!'" Pemberton said. "So I pretty much get one of two reactions from everyone - either they think it's so cool, or they are extremely embarrassed by it. My brother and my dad thought it was pretty cool."

Pemberton opted to get the hair measured in Tyler, Texas, where he was stationed on an away rotation from medical school. By the time he arranged for the measurement to be taken, the hair had reached five inches.

"I went to get it officially measured at the Tyler Police Department, with media and everything," he said. "I submitted the claim, and three weeks later they [Guinness] got back to me and approved it. I definitely broke the record, now I'm just waiting for them to go through the video and pictures so they can officially award me."

Because the 2008 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records has already been released, Pemberton will get in the publication next year. He will be sent an official certificate to commemorate his accomplishment.

Pemberton said he had the impression that his hair was just going to be a local sensation in Tyler, but a few days after the video aired, the police station called him and told him that they had received many calls from New York and other places wanting to tell his story.

Even when Pemberton returned to Dallas, he said the story followed him.

"After the video showed on the TV, I was at the restaurant On the Border in Dallas and this little girl came up to me and asked to take a picture with me!" Pemberton said.

He said he was a bit skeptical at the girl's request, and he asked her mother if she was serious. He then went ahead and took a picture with the little girl.

Pemberton said the hair is still hanging on, despite the approval of his world record.

"Now, I'm just kinda like whatever with it," Pemberton said. "I no longer condition it daily."