Tree Man undergoes third successful surgery

The third surgery of the Bangladeshi “Tree Man,” Abul Bajandar has been successfully completed at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Saturday. This time the surgery has been carried out to the upper side of Abul's left hand. The previous two surgeries were successfully conducted to his right hand. The surgery was conducted from 11am to 12:30pm on Saturday led by the DMCH burn and plastic surgery unit head Md Abul Kalam who is also the chief of the nine members medical board assigned for Abul. "We conducted the surgery with the previous experience of his right hand's surgery. We hope very soon he will be fine” said Professor Md Abul Kalam at a press conference at Saturday afternoon after the surgery. Earlier, the first surgery of Abul's five fingers of his right hand was successfully done on February 20. Now the condition of his right hand is still good, Professor Abul also said. The government will bear all cost of Abul Bajandar’s treatment until he returns to a healthy and normal life. Abul, 26, who was admitted to DMCH on January 30, has been suffering from an extremely rare genetic skin disease epidermodysplasia verruciformis, which is also referred to as “Tree Man Disease.” The disease is caused by a defect in the immune system. It causes abnormal susceptibility to human papilloma viruses (HPVs), which eventually leads to the overgrowth of scaly macules and papules, especially on the feet and hands. Abul is the fifth person in the world reported to be suffering from the disease. The others are Ion Toader, Dede Kosawa, Zainal and Ivan. Dede and Zainal hail from the same area in Indonesia. Ivan is from Netherlands but his father grew up in Indonesia while Toader is a Romanian. Except Toader, the other three have genetic roots in West Java. The problem with “Tree Man Disease” is that there is still no cure.