'Tree Man' Back in Hospital
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December 19, 2008: Dede, a man who has gnarled growths sprouting from his hands and feet, sits in front of his house in Tanjung Jaya village, on the outskirts of Bandung, the capital of Indonesia's West Java province. Two months after this photo was taken, Dede was back in the hospital for another operation to remove the growths.
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December 19, 2008: After undergoing two months of treatment at a hospital in April, Dede had 95 percent of the warts on his body removed, but since moving home in September, the warts have re-grown on his hands and feet.
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December 19, 2008: The growths, which are believed to have been caused by the human papillomavirus and began to appear on his skin after he cut his leg when he was 15, left him unable to work, except in a traveling "freak show." As a result, Dede was unable to care for his children and his wife left him.
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December 19, 2008: Dede smokes a cigarette in Tanjung Jaya village, on the outskirts of Bandung, the capital of Indonesia's West Java province.
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December 19, 2008: A paramedic gives treatment to Dede in Tanjung Jaya village, on the outskirts of Bandung, the capital of Indonesia's West Java province.
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December 19, 2008: A paramedic checks on the hand of Dede, a man who has gnarled growths sprouting from his hands and feet.
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The growths began to appear on Dede's skin after he cut his leg when he was 15. Within a decade, the warts had grown so large that he had to quit his job as a fisherman and joined a freak show to support himself.
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This file photo shows Dede before he underwent nine months of operations to remove more than 13 pounds of growths from his hands and feet.
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Dede finally received the medical attention he needed after his story made international headlines.
Reuters
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