A few years ago, 27-year-old Abul Bajandar began to notice warts growing on his hands and feet. The rickshaw driver didn’t think too much of the warts, since they didn’t cause him any pain or keep him from doing his job.
But over time, the warts expanded and grew – and even more grew in on top of the original warts. Soon, Bajandar was forced to stop working and stay home. It wasn’t just that he could no longer perform his job without struggle, but because the pain was “unbearable.”
Bajandar went to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with the incredibly rare disease, epidermodysplasia verruciformis, a condition more colloquially known as “tree-man disease” where scaly growths form on the hands and feet of the patient.
The growths on Bajandar’s limbs at their worst, weighed a total of 11 pounds. He was unable to even hold his three-year-old daughter, much less do anything for his family. As a result, his wife and daughter moved to the hospital with him as he sought out doctors for treatment.
Dr. Samanta Lal Sen, the plastic surgery coordinator at Dhaka Medical College Hospital where Bajandar went for treatment, determined that in order to “cure” Bajandar and restore his original hands and feet, they would have to perform many operations.
16 operations later, Bajandar has basically been fully restored. “The hands and feet are now almost fine. He will be discharged within next 30 days after a couple of minor surgeries to perfect the shape of his hands,” Dr. Sen reported.
“I never thought I would ever be able to hold my kid with my hands,” Bajandar admitted. “Now I feel so much better, I can hold my daughter in my lap and play with her. I can't wait to go back home.”
You can see Bajandar’s condition here:
