Brilio.net/en - After years of suffering from warts that resemble tree trunks, Bangladeshi native Abul Bajandar will undergo surgery to have the growth removed. The 30-year old suffers from a genetic skin disease, epidermodysplasia verruciformis, that makes a person very susceptible to skin growths. Popularly he has been known at the Tree Man.
He first noticed the growths when he was a teenager, and even tried removing them by himself. It wasnt until the last four years when the growth began to expand and completely envelop his hands and feet. "Initially, I thought that they're harmless," Bajandar told AFP at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) "But slowly I lost all my ability to work. There are now dozens of two to three inch roots in both my hands. And there are some small ones in my legs," he said.
The excess weight is said to total more than 5 kilograms. A team of specialists will preform the series of surgeries at the state run hospital in the capital of Dhaka. It is estimated that the procedures will take up to six months to complete. According to DMCH director Samanta Lal Sen, it is an extremely rare case. "As far as we know there are three such cases in the world including Abul Bajandar. It is the first time we have found such a rare case in Bangladesh. In 2008, Indonesian villager Dede Kosawa underwent a similar treatment for his warts.
Thankful for Bajandar and his family, the hospital is waving the fees as it is one of the worst cases they have ever seen, and possibly on record.
The rickshaw driver had to give up his job because he could no longer work, and is even now unable to hold a fork or brush his teeth on his own. The father of one is welcoming the efforts of the Dhaka Medical Hospital as the natural remedies he has tried previously only seemed to worsen the condition.
The hospital team and Bajandar are optimistic about the surgery, and about giving Bajandar his life back.
(Reported by: Ivana Lucic)