Half man half tree

In a remote village in Indonesia, 36-year-old fisherman Dede struggles to live an ordinary life. He has baffled doctors with an affliction so terrible that he can no longer work or venture out in public. Dede has root-like structures growing out of his limbs – branches that can grow up to five centimetres a year, and welts that cover his body.

The mystery illness has robbed Dede of his independence and he lives in the fear that the welts, which first appeared when he was 15, may eventually cover his eyes and mouth, leaving him unable to eat or breathe. Dede's wife left him because of the disease, and his two teenage children are now being cared for by his sister. "I want to be able to provide for them," he says. "I hope I live long enough to see my grandchildren." But a far more troubling question concerns Dede – has he passed on his ailment to his children?

Dede's case has come to the attention of Dr A Gaspari, a dermatologist at the University of Maryland. He makes the long journey by plane, boat and foot to Dede's village in the hope of diagnosing his illness. Upon meeting the patient, Dr Gaspari cannot hide his shock. "I'm absolutely stunned," he says. "I’ve never seen anything like this before."

A physical exam leads Dr Gaspari to suspect that Dede's condition is wart-like in nature. The warts have grown and spread, creating cutaneous horns on Dede's hands and feet, and Dr Gaspari is concerned that they could become cancerous. "It is life threatening for the patient. It is absolutely real and requires attention," he says.

To establish the exact nature of the underlying infection, Dr Gaspari removes four warts and takes blood samples. The procedures are carried out with a basic medical kit on the floor of Dede's hut, and Dr Gaspari has to be careful to control the bleeding from the warts, which have their own internal blood supply.

With his samples gathered, Dr Gaspari flies back to the States to begin testing, while Dede returns to the only job he can keep. He is a member of a travelling circus clan, alongside other victims of terrible skin diseases and deformities. The clan's manager forces them to perform demeaning and potentially dangerous acts in front of large crowds. In the face of their adversity, the clan members have formed friendships based on their mutual status as 'freaks' and outsiders.

After two months of testing, Dr Gaspari concludes that Dede's condition is due to an immunodeficiency. Dede's immune system is unable to cope with the warts, which have grown out of control. "What's unique about Dede is probably the extent and severity of the infection rather than the infection itself," he says. The test results indicate that the growths are not cancerous and that Dede's children are unlikely to inherit the disease, and Dr Gaspari has drawn up a list of drugs that could tackle the warts. Is the end finally in sight for Dede's suffering?

As Dr Gaspari opts to treat Dede with a medical solution, doctors in Romania are attempting to treat a man with a similar affliction.

 A farmer by the name of Ion has wart-like growths on his hands and feet that have prevented him from working. But in Ion's case, doctors have decided to embark on an experimental five-hour surgery to peel off the growths on one of his hands. Will this risky operation succeed?