Published 09:13 IST, January 22nd 2019
Bangladesh's 'Tree man' who suffers from rare skin disease returns to hospital as condition worsens
Bangladeshi man named Abul Bajandar, popularly known as the "Tree Man", suffers from a rare disease called epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) which causes heavy bark-like growths on his hands and feet. He has undergone 25 surgeries since 2016 to remove the large, heavy warts from his hands and feet at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. However, he has presented himself at the hospital again because the growths have returned again.
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Bangladeshi man named Abul Bajandar, popularly known as the "Tree Man", suffers from a rare disease called epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) which causes heavy bark-like growths on his hands and feet.
He has undergone 25 surgeries since 2016 to remove the large, heavy warts from his hands and feet at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. However, he has presented himself at the hospital again because the growths have returned again.
He was readmitted to the hospital on Sunday after his condition deteriorated, with the growths now covering almost the entirety of his hands and feet, the 28-year-old said.
While the doctors were on the verge of declaring their treatment successful earlier when they treated him, a sudden relapse prompted Bajandar to flee the clinic in May without notifying staff.
"I made a mistake by leaving the hospital. I sought alternative treatment but could not find any. I now I understand I should have stayed and continued the treatment here," Bajandar said.
Samanta Lal Sen, a plastic surgeon at the hospital, said doctors would resume treatment "very soon", adding the growths had spread to other parts of his body.
"I requested Bajandar to return as soon as possible. Now we have to start from the very beginning. We'll have to conduct more surgeries," Sen told a news agency.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also promise to provide free treatment for Bajandar after his plight captured the sympathies of the country. Father of one child, he lived in the hospital's expensive private cabin with his wife and daughter for nearly two years during his first round of treatment.
Plastic surgeon Samanta Lal Sen added that fewer than half a dozen people worldwide have the disease. His hospital also treated a young Bangladeshi girl suffering from the same condition in 2017.
However, while doctors declared her surgery a success in 2017, her father later revealed that her growths had returned in even greater numbers, prompting the family to halt treatment and return to their village.
(With agency inputs)
08:46 IST, January 22nd 2019