Abul Bajandar (L), 26, dubbed "Tree Man" for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet, sits at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in Dhaka on January 31, 2016. (AFP Photo)
Highlights
- Bangladesh 'Tree Man' Abul Bajandar's surgery removes bark-like warts
- Nine-doctor team take 3 hours to remove warts from Bajandar's right hand
- Bajandar has epidermodysplasia verruciformis, a rare genetic skin disease
Abul Bajandar, a 26-year-old known as the 'Tree Man' in Bangladesh who underwent surgery for a strange disease that left him with bark-like warts on his hands and feet, on Sunday said he dreams of returning to work so that he can support his family and live a normal life.
"My arm hurts a lot, but I am fine and content. I want to have a normal life again," Mr Bajandar told EFE at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment.
Accompanied by his mother, wife and three-year-old daughter, Bajandar said he felt no discomfort during the three-hour operation, conducted by a team of nine specialists, to rid his right hand of the warts.
The surgery was dubbed a success by the hospital.
According to Samanta Lal Sen, director of the hospital's plastic surgery and burns unit, Mr Bajandar will have to undergo tests and analysis over the next three weeks before he is operated on the rest of his limbs.
The warts started to appear on Mr Bajandar, who hails from the southern province of Khulna, around a decade ago, but it was not until January this year that he was admitted to the medical centre in the Bangladeshi capital.
The warts were identified as epidermodysplasia verruciformis, an extremely rare, non-contagious disease.
It has no known cure and the medical team believes that the warts could reappear in the future.