World's tallest woman asks Michael Jackson for help

　　INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Sandy Allen, the world's talle st woman who is bedridden and broke, pleaded with singe r Michael Jackson for help in a report published Tuesda y. Allen, 45 and listed in the Guinness Book of world R ecords at 7-feet, 7-1/4 inches tall, sought Jackson's h elp in paying for physical therapy and other essentials in an appeal published in the National Enquirer newspap er.

　　Allen once met Jackson at the Guinness Museum.

　　Her spokesman, John Kleiman, told the Indianapolis Star that Allen, a former secretary and inspirational s peaker, agreed to the interview with the tabloid as a l ast resort.

　　"She said, 'I don't want a pity party.' She's alway s been self-supporting. She's just run out of ways to w ork around this," Kleiman told the Star.

　　Allen became ill last February after a televised ta lk show appearance and her leg muscles atrophied while she was bedridden.

　　She survives on disability payments and needs physi cal therapy if she is to walk again, Kleiman said.

　　Allen's extraordinary growth was due to a tumor in her pituitary gland, which was removed when she was 21, according to biographical information on her Web site.

　　(Reuters)