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Abud Bajandar is a 28 year old man who lives with his wife and four year old daughter in Bangladesh. He drew international attention a few years ago because of a rare medical condition that affects his hands and feet. They are covered in gnarled growths that look like tree bark and these skin lesions have wreaked havoc on every part of his life. He cannot do the simple everyday things that people take for granted, like feed himself, and he’s unable to work or provide for his family. He can’t even wear standard clothing because it’s so uncomfortable and he’s unable to hold his little girl.
Abud has what is known as Epidermodysplasia verruciformis, which is more commonly called “tree man” syndrome. It is extremely rare with just 200 ever known cases worldwide. The condition is caused by an immune system defect that leaves people with an abnormally high vulnerability to human papillomaviruses, HPVs, of the skin. Unable to fight off certain types of HPV, the infections take hold and result in scaly, gnarled, uncontrollable warts and growths that look like tree bark.
These are associated with a very high risk of skin cancer and while most people develop the disease when they’re younger, onset has been reported in older, middle aged adults. There is no known cure and surgery is the most often pursued treatment because in many cases the growths become cancerous and need to be removed.
Thankfully for Abul, doctors at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital learned about his condition and offered to treat him for free. They removed more than 11 pounds of growths from his hands and feet, and for the first time in more than a decade he was finally unencumbered by his rare syndrome and could finally hold his little girl. After twenty five surgeries and living in a small room in the hospital for months with his wife and child, he left to go home.
However, things did not go as planned and he was soon back in the hospital when the growths came back.This time they are worse than ever, with warts spreading to other parts of his body. Abul has lost hope and fears he will never be cured. The pain is so great that he cannot sleep at night and he has begged doctors to cut off his hands to rid him from the immense pain and suffering.
The medical team treating him are holding off on such drastic measures. Instead they have developed another plan to try and treat him once again. This time the government has stepped in to cover the costs of all his future treatments and the hopes of being able to hold his little girl again have given him a renewed sense of strength to carry on.
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