Abul Bajandar has revealed the bark-like warts that covered his hands and feet have regrown despite him having 16 operations to remove them just last year. Photo / AFP
Abul Bajandar has revealed the bark-like warts that covered his hands and feet have regrown despite him having 16 operations to remove them just last year. Photo / AFP
A father cruelly dubbed 'The Tree Man' has revealed the agonising bark-like warts that covered his hands and feet have regrown - despite 16 operations to remove them just last year.
Abul Bajandar, 27, from Bangladesh, had 11 pounds of the growths removed after they left him unable to hold his daughter.
Bajandar, a rickshaw driver, suffers from epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) and was overjoyed when doctors seemed to have successfully treated the rare condition, saying, "I hope the curse won't return again."
Yet, new images reveal the growths have reappeared on Bajandar's hands - dashing doctors' hopes they could have cured the first EV sufferer.
Bajandar was previously forced to stop working due to his excruciating condition, leaving the father-of-one desperately anxious about his daughter's future. It is unclear if he is able to work now the disorder has reappeared.
Bajandar, who previously described his pain as "unbearable", is thought to be one of just four diagnosed cases of EV worldwide.
Samanta Lal Sen, who performed Bajandar's surgery at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said the removal operation was "a remarkable milestone in the history of medical science".
At the time, Bajandar, who was in hospital for around 30 days after the procedure, said: "I can hold my daughter in my lap and play with her. I can't wait to go back home."
He met his wife Halima Khatun before he contracted the disease, but it had taken hold by the time they married, against her parents' wishes.
Bajandar had 11 pounds of the growths removed after they left him unable to hold his daughter before they were removed last year.
'I hope the curse won't return'
Bajandar, who was described by a doctor as the "most loved" patient in this hospital, initially thought the warts were harmless until they grew and covered his hands and feet, forcing him to stop work.
He planned to set up a small business using the money donated from well wishers around the world.
Bajandar said: "I was so worried about raising my daughter. I hope the curse won't return again."
WHAT IS EPIDERMODYSPLASIA VERRUCIFORMIS?
• Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a rare, inherited skin disorder that causes wart-like eruptions anywhere on the body.
• These can be reddish-brown to violet and may have scaly surfaces or irregular borders.
• They most commonly occur on areas exposed to the sun, such as the hands, feet, face and ear lobes.
• EV is thought to be caused by sufferers' having an impaired immune system, making them more vulnerable to HPV and wart-causing viruses.
• Some 10 per cent of sufferers come from marriages with blood relatives.
• Around 7.5 per cent of cases appear when the patient is a baby, 61.5 per cent when they are five-to-11 years old and 22.5 per cent during puberty.
