Abul Bajandar, dubbed the “tree man” because of branch-like warts growing on his hands and legs, is happy as doctors are hopeful of curing his extremely rare skin disorder.

Almost all the warts have been removed and those have not reappeared.

Bajandar, 27, had 18 surgeries after his admission to the burn and plastic surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital a year ago. He might need another four or five operations in the next two months.

The man from Khulna has been suffering from epidermodysplasia verruciformis, a rare skin disorder commonly known as the tree man illness, which covers limbs with warts, making them look like tree branches. He is believed to be the fourth man in the world with tree man illness.

“If Bajandar is cured and the warts don't grow again, it will be a remarkable milestone in the history of medical science,” Dr Samanta Lal Sen, national coordinator at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, told The Daily Star recently.

“We are hopeful about his recovery as there has been no reappearance of the warts since his first operation in February last year,” he said.

A nine-member medical board has been operating on him, said the noted physician, adding that they were waiting for his lab report. Bajandar's blood, tissue and saliva samples were sent to the US last year for diagnosis.

BAJANDAR LOOKS BETTER

With a pale face and confusion over his treatment, Bajandar went to the DMCH on January 30 last year. His photos with his hands completely covered by warts grabbed worldwide media attention.

But if you see Bajandar now, you might not recognise him instantly. Not only the warts but also the paleness of his face has disappeared. His health has improved and he smiles frequently.

All of his limbs except for the left hand are bandaged. A few remains of the warts are visible on the fingers and the palm. Bajandar said the condition of the other hand and the legs was almost the same.

Talking to The Daily Star on Saturday, he said his life has changed completely after his admission to the hospital.

Thanking the doctors for their selfless efforts to cure him, he talked about his dreams of making his daughter a doctor in future.

“I want she too serves people selflessly. It is the only way to pay back the nation,” he said, adding that the doctors gave him a “new life”.

When Bajandar was admitted to the hospital, his hands were so heavy because of the warts that he could not even move them on his own. But now, things have changed.

“Even after the surgeries began, I was wondering whether I could ever use my hands and legs again. But you see, these are functioning, and I can touch my daughter and play with her sometimes.

“This feeling is just out of the world…”

Living in a cabin on the fourth floor of the burn unit for the last one year with his wife Halima Khatun and three-year-old daughter Tahira, Bajandar went outside the hospital just twice for a walk.

Asked, he said he was never bored. “Rather, I felt liberated as the warts were being removed gradually.”

Now, all he wants is to go back to his village in Khulna and start his own business with the money donated by people.

“I have received a lot of love from all. Many visited me and gave me gifts as well. All this love and the treatment are giving me the confidence to fight back in life,” he said, adding that he did not like the way people used to look at him with sympathy because of the warts.

His wife Halima, who has always been with him, also expressed her happiness over the way things have happened. “I am very happy to see smile on my husband's face.”

Bajandar was having malnutrition, anaemia (lack of red cell in blood) and jaundice when he was admitted to the hospital. But now, his health has improved a lot, said Dr Sen, adding that his treatment has absolutely been free of cost.

The government is bearing all the costs.

This is a long term and expensive treatment. The entire treatment would cost nearly Tk 50 lakh, he claimed.

The warts began to appear on Bajandar's limbs when he was 15. After his wedding in 2011, those grew so big that he could not even move them. So he had to quit his job as a rickshaw-van driver.

Bajandar's case received worldwide attention from renowned international media outlets, among others, AFP, The Guardian, BBC, CNN, ABC, Telegraph, Washington Post, Russian Television (RT) Network and Al-Jazeera.

According to DermNet New Zealand, a renowned resource all about the skin, epidermodysplasia verruciformis (also called Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia) is an extremely autosomal recessive inherited disorder. Till date, no cure has been found.

A Romanian man was first diagnosed with the disease in March 2007. Another case was reported in Indonesia in November the same year in a 35-year-old fisherman. The last reported case also occurred in Indonesia in 2009.

The Indonesian fisherman, whose case had also received worldwide attention, died on January 30 last year from the complications related to his condition as the warts began to reappear. Those were surgically removed earlier.