Dede Koswara was a normal appearing, nice looking Indonesian teenager until one day when he accidentally cut his leg. From that time onward, wart-like growths began to form on various parts of his body, primarily on his hands and feet. These growths were not swift in causing him severe problems. He married and fathered two children but these growths continued to increase in size and also spread to other parts of his body, a number of them were growing on his face. He eventually lost his job because he could no longer perform his work. He even joined a freak show to try and raise money for his family's support. His wife left him and he could not care for his children so they were taken to his brother's home.
As the growths on his hands and feet became so long as well as large, they resembled roots on trees, thus the title of "Tree Man" arose. Doctors were baffled, having had no precedent for this type of problem. It was found that he had an excessive white blood count and some doctors suspected that he had HIV. But after a thorough analysis it was determined that he did not. (photo at right shows his hands before surgery)
An American doctor from the University of Maryland, Anthony Gaspari, heard of the strange case and traveled to Indonesia where he found the man living in a jungle village. He took blood and tissue samples and returned to the U.S. to study and try to come up with a positive identification of the problem and hopefully, a cure.
Dr. Gaspari found that Dede suffers from a fairly common infection of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), that normally only causes small warts to form on those who contract the virus. However, he also determined that he has a rare genetic problem that hinders the immune system in it's thwarting of the virus. Dr. Gaspari believes that proper treatments with a synthetic vitamin A which has helped others with the virus, will help to diminish the growths and that the large ones can be removed, allowing Dede to live a nearly normal life. As of now, he has undergone four surgeries and had over four pounds of the wart-like growths removed. He can again hold a pen for writing and perform many other things he has previously been unable to do. They have also removed almost all the growths from his head, leaving only spots of discoloration. (photo above shows Dede after surgeries)
As might be expected, Dede is encouraged and hopeful that he may once again be married and live to see his grandchildren.
There are several videos online showing this fellow, however, the quality is not good in those I have viewed. One of the better ones is of the doctor examining him. To view it:
There is also a still photo gallery with very clear pictures of him and others, including some that worked with him when he was employed by the circus freak show. Click Here
