JAKARTA (AFP)
An Indonesian villager dubbed "Tree Man" for massive bark-like warts growing on much of his body may be barred from traveling to the United States to receive treatment, a report said Tuesday.
Seen in a Discovery Channel documentary this month that showed woody growths entirely covering 35-year-old Dede's hands in long, root-like tendrils that leave him unable to work -- except as a member of a traveling "freak show."
"We're clear about not giving them (U.S. doctors) permission to bring Dede to the U.S.," health ministry spokeswoman Lily Sriwahyuni Sulistiyowati was quoted as saying by Warta Kota daily.
"Moreover, people like Dede, who live in small villages, don't want to be taken away, especially to give blood samples. Normally village people don't easily give foreigners permission to test their blood," she said.
Dede baffled medical experts when warty "roots" began growing out of his arms and feet after he cut his knee in an accident as a teenager, Australia's The Age newspaper reported.
The warts spread unchecked, making everyday household tasks impossible. After he was fired from his job and deserted by his wife, Dede has been raising his two teenaged children in poverty.
To make ends meet, he joined a local "freak show", parading in front of a paying audience alongside victims of other peculiar diseases. |
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Rare disease But now an American doctor claims to have identified his condition, and proposed a treatment that could transform his life.
Anthony Gaspari, a dermatologist from the University of Maryland, believes the massive growths are a combination of the human papilloma virus, which causes warts, and a genetic disorder that means his immune system is too weak to fight them off.
Gaspari told AFP from the United States that he was disappointed by the reported health ministry decision but said it would not stop his initial plan to treat his condition.
Gaspari said he was in negotiations with a U.S. pharmaceutical company to provide Dede with an ongoing supply of vitamin A, which would hopefully boost his immune system and hinder the growth of the warts.
"My initial plan would be to send medication to Indonesia to a local doctor to administer," he said. "If it doesn't work I won't have any choice but to try to get him over here." |
