KEY POINTS:
Sacked from his job, deserted by his wife, shunned by neighbours - "tree man" Dede has been treated as a freak for most of his life because of the gnarled growths sprouting from his hands and feet.
But now the 35-year-old Indonesian hopes a doctor in the United States will be able to treat the horn-like extensions that started appearing on his body in his teens and that earned him the "tree man" moniker.
"First it felt itchy and some warts appeared on my feet," Dede said at his home in the small village of Tanjung Jaya, about 150km south of Jakarta.
"I neglected it and the growths quickly covered all my body."
Unable to work because he cannot use his hands, and abandoned by his wife, Dede lives in poverty with two teenage daughters.
He briefly joined a freak show in nearby Bandung to earn some money, but he is often the target of abuse and ridicule in his village.
In 1993, he was admitted to a local hospital, but doctors could not find a cure for his condition.
But now Dr Anthony Gaspari of University of Maryland has tested Dede's blood and says the growths are the result of human papilloma virus, which usually causes small warts.
Gaspari, who became involved in the case through a Discovery Channel documentary, believes Dede's condition can be cleared up using daily doses of Vitamin A.
- REUTERS
