clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

'Tree man' regains use of hands

The "Tree Man of Java" is now able to send text messages and eat from his hands after operations to remove the bark-like tissue sprouting from his limbs.

New photos show that Dede Koswara's treatment - revealed on Telegraph.co.uk this weekend - is proving a success and helping him live a more normal life

The images, taken in an Indonesian hospital, show him using a mobile phone and eating and drinking unaided. Around 4lbs of warty horns have been removed from his limbs, allowing him to use his hands and walk without pain for the first time in 20 years.

Dede, 37, now hopes to find a bride after two more operations to graft undamaged skin onto his hands, feet and face.

Speaking from an Indonesian hospital, Dede told the Telegraph: "What I really want first is to get better and find a job. But then, one day, who knows? I might meet a girl and get married."

Dede's ordeal began when he was 15 and cut his knee in an accident. A small wart developed on his lower leg and spread uncontrollably.

Eventually he had to give up work as a builder and fisherman, and scratch a living in a traveling freak show.

His wife of ten years left him as it became impossible for him to support her and their two children. Late last year, however, Dede's plight was highlighted in a Discovery Channel documentary.

The documentary team took American dermatology expert Dr Anthony Gaspari to Indonesia to see if he could find a cure. Dr Gaspari, of the University of Maryland, concluded Dede's affliction was caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a fairly common infection usually causing only small warts.

Dede's problem was that he has an extremely rare immune system deficiency, leaving his body unable to contain the warts.

The virus was therefore able to "hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells", ordering them to produce massive amounts of the substance causing tree-like growths known as "cutaneous horns".

After clearing up a dispute about authorisation with the Indonesian government, Dr Gaspari returned to Indonesia and is now liaising with the doctors caring for Dede at the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java.

Dede went under the knife for his first operation in January. In the most recent operation, in March, doctors removed growths on his feet. The medics are now trying to ensure that the warts don't grow back.

Dede is taking vitamin A tablets to boost his immune system, and Dr Gaspari is hoping to get expensive anti-viral medicine available only in the US.

His father Ateng, 72, said: "You can see the form of his 10 toes now. He can wear flip flops. He loves doing sudokus. He is in good condition."

Ateng added: "The first priority is to get cured and get a job, but as a father, of course I want my son to remarry. He is a normal guy and he is still a young man."