‘Tree Man’ to have huge warts surgically removed
Print Edition
A Bangladeshi father dubbed “Tree Man” for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet will finally have surgery to remove the growths, which first began appearing 10 years ago, a hospital said yesterday.
Abul Bajandar, from the southern district of Khulna, was undergoing preparations for the surgery to cut out the growths weighing at least 5 kilogrammes that have smothered his hands and feet.
“Initially, I thought that they’re harmless,” the 26-year-old said at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
“But slowly I lost all my ability to work. There are now dozens of 2- to 3-inch roots in both my hands. And there are some small ones in my legs,” said Bajandar who was forced to quit working as a bicycle puller.
A team of doctors has been assembled to perform the operation at DMCH, Bangladesh’s largest state-run hospital, which will not charge for the treatment.
Tests are under way to ensure Bajandar’s root-like warts can be removed surgically without damaging major nerves or causing any other health problems.
The massive warts, which first started appearing when he was a teenager but began spreading rapidly four years ago, have been diagnosed as epidermodysplasia verruciformis, an extremely rare genetic skin disease that makes the person susceptible to skin growths.
“Popularly it is known as tree-man disease,” said DMCH director Samanta Lal Sen.
“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,” he said.
An Indonesian villager with massive warts all over his body underwent a string of operations in 2008 to remove them.
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