Half Man, Half Tree

There are many articles about this man but I found mine on The Yellowllama. An Indonesian fisherman, Dede Kosawa, also known as "Tree Man" has a very rare condition. In Dede's childhood he had cut his knee and from then on warty "roots" have grown out of his hands and feet. These "warts" proceeded to grow from his body and eventually he was unable to perform simple acts of daily living. An American dermatology expert, Dr. Anthony Gaspari, has flown out to his village south of Jakarta stating that he knows what Dede has and claiming he has a cure. Gaspari says that Dede's warts are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). He has a rare genetic fault that effects his immune system. This means 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...

"The likelihood of having his condition is less than one in a million," Dr. Gaspari quotes. Gaspari believes that Dede's warts may be cleared up using daily doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin A. This vitamin will arrest the growth of the warts.

"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 become 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 drugs for free. He wants to bring Dede to the United States to run more tests on him but he fears financial and bureaucratic barriers will hold him back.