Palash Khan / YoutubeA Bangladeshi father nicknamed ‘Tree Man’ is to receive life-changing surgery throughout the next year to rid his body of shocking bark like growths.
Abul Bajandar’s surgery began on Saturday when doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital started work on his right hand in an attempt to remove a small section of growths, reports the Daily Mail.
The 26-year-old was taken into hospital in January in an attempt to cut away some of the growths which propped up 10 years ago – some of which are said to weigh over 11 pounds.
YoutubeHospital facility director, Samanta Lal Sen, said: “We removed some small warts from his palm. We also did dressing of his fingers, which were operated on last week.”
However Mr Bajandar, from the southern district of Khulna, will need at least 15 operations to remove all of the growths, which could take up to a year.
Mr Bajandar was diagnosed with epidermodysplasia verruciformis, an incredibly rare genetic condition, also known as ‘tree-man disease’, which causes the growths.
bulbulphotographer / YouTubeThe condition is caused by an infection which creates eruptions in the skin such as wartlike lesions and reddish-brown pigmented plaques.
There are only three known cases of epidermodysplasia verruciformis in the world.
Working as a rickshaw puller, Mr Bajandar first thought that the warts were not dangerous but when the growths covered his hands and feet he was forced to quit work.
Palash Khan / YouTubeThe local celebrity said he would continue with the treatment no matter how long it took.
Mr Bajandar said:
The first operation has given me hope.
I don’t want to return to my village without clearing my hands and feet. I want to get back to my old life.
Luckily, the father of one was given the all-clear for surgery after test results confirmed the warts were not cancerous.
The Bangladeshi government has chosen to pay his medical bills.
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