Shocking story of Half Man Half Tree

32 year old Dede lives in a remote village in Indonesia with his two children, trying to care for them. Dede, a former fisherman, has an extraordinary skin condition: he has root like structures growing out of his body - branches that can grow up to 5cm a year and which protrude from his hands and feet, and welts covering his whole body.

He is known locally as 'Tree Man' and his condition has baffled local doctors for 20 years. In an attempt to earn a living to support his family, he is part of a circus troupe, displaying his Tree Man limbs along with others afflicted with skin deformities in 'freak' shows.

Dr Anthony Gaspari, a world expert in skin conditions from the University of Maryland travels to Indonesia to attempt to diagnosis Dede's mysterious condition. He takes skin samples for biopsies back in the USA. What will he discover?

We go on an intimate journey with the extraordinary Dede, as he tries to eek out a living in a circus troupe to support his family, and as he is given medical help by Dr Gaspari. The identification and possible cure of his condition, could change his whole life.

Half way across the world, in Romania, farmer Ion Toader is discovered to have a similar extraordinary 'Tree Man' condition, with growths all over his hands. He has not been able to drive a tractor for five years. A Romanian surgeon offers to give him an operation to remove his growths.

Will it be successful, and how will it change Ion's life?

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• shocking
• amazing
• halfmen
• tree
• disease
• sience
• suffering
• personals

[garystorey]

@TheChrisbk If it was due to chemicals or pesticides then other people would have the condition too. It's actually a fungal disease that he has and nothing to do with chemicals.

[TheChrisbk]

Maybe these poisonous chemicals were dumped into the water or fed to the trees or both. Thailand was also affected by water polluted by pesticides and chemicals and threatens the people and the dolphin species there.

[SeanH0604]

Poor bloke feel sorry for him

[Tetsacry]

I like the place they live in, looks real...old. And no I'm not being sarcastic o.o

[Dsrptd]

HOW DO I ALWAYS END UP IN THE WEIRD PART OF YOUTUBE

[chubbylilloser]

I love these shows...half man half tree...Half man half ape.... Half man half what ever lmao. The most retarded titles in the world with the aim to shock people into watching crappy docu shows. I remember one called "The man who had a baby...." It turned out it was a woman who had a part sex change ..then had a baby.. It was still a woman lmao This guy has an illness that makes his hand look like a root..

[LoveJuliaAngel]

he's mom sleep with a motherfucking tree

[lolfagut]

Sudowoodo.

[BGasperov]

imagine having him in minecraft.. i would make the biggest wood house ever

[cazibby]

According to Dr. Gaspari, the HPvirus was able to "hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells", instructing them to produce huge amounts of the substance that caused the tree-like growths known as "cutaneous horns" on both his hands and feet.

[Kello1231]

Search "elephantiasis" and compare it to this.

[cyazuri]

@garystorey that definitely looks more like a fungus then a tree. perhaps his past generation got exposed to a strange type of fungus and it was locked in his genes to be more susceptible to it.