Half man, Half tree!
An Indonesian fisherman who feared that he would be killed by tree-like growths covering his body has been given hope of recovery by an American doctor – and Vitamin A.
Dede, now 35, baffled medical experts when warty “roots” began growing out of his arms and feet after he cut his knee in a teenage accident.
The welts spread across his body unchecked and soon he was left unable to carry out everyday household tasks.
Sacked from his job and deserted by his wife, Dede has been raising his two children – now in their late teens – in poverty, resigned to the fact that local doctors had no cure for his condition.
To make ends meet he even joined a local “freak show”, parading in front of a paying audience alongside victims of other peculiar diseases.
Although supported by his extended family, he was often a target of abuse and ridicule in his rural fishing village.
But now an American dermatology expert who flew out to Dede’s home village south of the capital Jakarta claims to have identified his condition, and proposed a treatment that could transform his life.
After testing samples of the lesions and Dede’s blood, Dr Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland concluded that his affliction is caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection that usually causes small warts to develop on sufferers.
Dede’s problem is that he has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system, meaning his body is unable to contain the warts.
The virus was therefore able to “hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells”, ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as “cutaneous horns” on his hands and feet.
Dede’s counts of a key type of white blood cell are so low that Dr Gaspari initially suspected he may have the Aids virus. But tests showed he did not, and it became clear that Dede’s immune condition was something far rarer and more mysterious.
Warts aside, he had enjoyed remarkable good health throughout his life – which would not be expected of someone with a suppressed immune system – and neither his parents nor his siblings have shown signs of developing lesions.
“The likelihood of having his deficiency is less than one in a million,” Dr Gaspari told the Telegraph.
Dr Gaspari, who became involved in the case through a Discovery Channel documentary, believes that Dede’s condition can be largely cleared up by a daily doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin A, which has been shown to arrest the growth of warts in severe cases of HPV.
“He won’t have a perfectly normal body but the warts should reduce in size to the point where he could use his hands,” Dr Gaspari said.
“Over the course of three to six months the warts should be come smaller and fewer in number. He will be living a more normal life.”
The most resilient warts could then be frozen off and the growths on his hands and feet surgically removed.
Dr Gaspari hopes to get the necessary drugs free of charge from pharmaceutical firms. They would then be administered by Indonesian doctors under his supervision.
Still intrigued by the origins of Dede’s peculiar immune condition, the doctor would like to fly him to the United States for further examination, but fears the financial and bureaucratic barriers would prove too difficult to overcome.
“I would like to bring him to the US to run tests on where his immune condition has come from, but I would need funding and to get him a visa as well as someone to cover the costs of the tests,” he said.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire career.”
I have never seen anything like this before. Somebody please help this man! He needs to live the rest of his life free of warts.
WOW
He need expert help now. . . I wander how heavy his hands and feet are?
this is not funny. . . Someone help him no one can live like that?
He’s getting treatment.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/11/wtreeman111.xml
Bizarre thing is – at the end of the Channel 5 documentary on this guy they said he had refused treatment and was rumoured to still be travelling with the freak show. He lost my sympathy a little then, as the doctor had gone to such lengths to help him and all the treatment involved was medication, not surgery. He evidently does not want to be helped. Strange.
I agree it was very bizarre that Channel 5 said he had refused and I complained to them that they tried to make a very ill man look silly – their response was “We appreciate the information you have provided and the time you have taken to supply it. We would add that Dede’s decision to receive treatment was made after filming had been completed.” Appalling journalism!! I hope that some of you will also complain about their misrepresenation. Just send a mail to “customerservices@five.tv”
Who are we to judge why he refused treatment. Maybe the doctors told him that the treatment would clear up some of the warts leaving him still with the condition and unable to work. Perhaps this included working in the freak show having lost enough of the condition to exclude him from the show. This would leave him with no way to earn a living for his family. Or maybe the government threatened him. They were very upset over Dede having allowed the American doctor to take a sample of his blood. I doubt that he made his decision to refuse treatment on anything that we saw in the documentary. Think, he didn’t ask for money, only help to make this terrible condition go away. Maybe the doctors couldn’t promise him that. I believe too many of us are too quick to judge him on “American Standards” remember where and how he lives and the information available to him. So far, my only complaint is that there hasn’t been any follow up on how he is doing or even if he’s still alive.
My friend and i watched this and thought that perhaps the owner of the circus may have threatened him into not receiving the treatment as it would mean that he would lose one of his “freaks”. Just an idea.
It would be nice to hear how things have gone for Dede and his family.
I wonder what it costs to support a family in Indonesia? If this man doesn’t merit financial help, I don’t know who does.
wow
Да, такой блог по-любому надо раÑкручивать Ñильнее – что б как можно больше жителей инета о нем узнали! :)
I think you made some good points in your post.
wow why the hell is this thing under humor it aint funny it sucks. why would somebody think having a desease like that is funny?
;’c
wwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooowwwwwwwwww
uhh, gross.
wowowowowow never seen snything like it