Bangla ‘Tree Man’ returns to hospital

Dhaka, Jan. 20: A Bangladeshi father dubbed “Tree Man” for the bark-like growths on his body returned to hospital on Sunday after his condition worsened.

Abul Bajandar has had

25 surgeries since 2016 to remove the growths from his hands and feet at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Doctors were on the verge of declaring their treatment a success before a sudden relapse prompted Bajandar to flee the clinic in May without notifying staff.

But on Sunday he was readmitted after his condition deteriorated, with the growths now covering almost the entirety of his hands and feet, the 28year-old said. “I made a mistake by leaving the hospital. I sought alternative treatment but could not find any. I now understand I should have stayed and continued treatment here,” Bajandar said.

Samanta Lal Sen, a plastic surgeon at the hospital, said doctors would resume treatment “very soon”, adding the growths had spread to other parts of his body.

“I requested Bajandar to return as soon as possible. Now we have to start from the very beginning. We'll have to conduct more surgeries,” Sen said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had promised free treatment for Bajandar after his plight captured the sympathies of the country.

He lived in the hospital’s expensive private cabin with his wife and daughter for nearly two years in his first round of treatment treatment. He suffers from epidermodysplasia verruciformis, a rare genetic condition also known as “tree-man syndrome”.