Tree Man Has Surgery, Wants Love

The 'Tree Man of Java' is officially looking for love, now that doctors have surgically removed some of the bark-like tissue covering his hands and feet.

Speaking from an Indonesian hospital, he said: "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 Koswara, also known as the 'Tree Man', is a big fan of sudoko now that he can hold a pen, reports the Telegraph.

UPDATE: Here is the Telegraph's video coverage of Dede 'Tree Man' Koswara.

Here are some Before and After photos of Dede.

Before:

After:

For more photos and coverage, you can go here, here, and here.

For the original Telegraph story, including video interviews, go here.

Comments

[Moiramyone]

What is with the Huffington Post? I'm starting to hate scrolling down the website because I don't know what I will see. First it was the two-faced baby in India, now it is the tree man. What will be next? If I want this kind of shock journalism, I would buy one of those kind of newspapers.

[nikto]

What he looked like on the outside, at the worst extreme of his condition...

That's what rightwinger/GOPers look like on the INSIDE!

Apologies to Dorian Grey.

[FirstShirt]

What has always amazed me is the resiliency of human beings. The compassion shown by those who have not been shown compassion by others.

If Jesus Christ came to earth to see who are the people who should go to heaven [and who are the real christians] he would come as "tree man".

[dattexas]

I'm not religious, but I have to agree with you on this one

[RButler]

It's an upside down world where the beautiful people are so troubled and lost and people such as the 'tree man' can be an inspiration. Ironically, the more time Princess Diana spent with AIDS patients and such, the more beautiful she became.

[go4thegold]

I saw the documentary and it's stayed with me, embedded very deeply. He seems to have such a tough life, yet the love of his villagers. He's forced to work in a traveling freak show with others who have infirmaties... He's a brave guy and I sure hope he can find some lasting happiness. He's a hero... though the kind we rarely, if ever hear about. D.

[Xander]

I'm really surprised so few people in this thread saw the documentary about him. It was really quite enlightening.

No, it wasn't something in the water. No, it wasn't genetic engineering. And no, it's not even a unique case.

He's not even really a tree. Those are actually giant warts that grow at ridiculous speeds and spread across his body over the years, making him "look" like a tree. His immune system was too weak to fight off the warts, so they continued to spread until he got to where he was at the time of filming.

These surgeries are both to remove the warts and to help his immune system build up so he can fight them off better in the future.

[XCITIZEN]

Disregard last comment.

[XCITIZEN]

Disclaimer - the Alex Jones websites contain material more wacky than when I last checked them out - FYI.

[XCITIZEN]

I am really disoriented by this. I can only say thank god we are able to see and understand the suffering of others.

[jubo]

Oh but there remains a certain question. It ... lingers.

[headcold]

He's one of God's perfect creations. The Lord, in His wisdom, made this man into a tree. Amen.

[LAJUSTICIA]

I heard about this story back in November right around Thanksgiving. It was reported at the Spanish paper ABC, supposedly he was a fisherman and they believe that he must have been exposed to something in the water. If any wants to see freaky stuff that's our pollution is doing look up fireweed or the vast areas of dead zones in the gulf of mexico that only giant jelly fish live in. We could start to see more things like this as our oceans become more acidic and certain sea plants begin to dominate. All I can say is that it's sad and shocking. Its really hard to look at. I hope he can more than just operation and I hope he can get whole again.

[Lorebee]

I wonder how old he is and how long he's had this problem.

[TN]

I'm glad he is getting help. I hope they can cure him. I saw this on cable, he was working in the circus. When, at first, they offered him help, he refused. I'm glad he changed his mind. I hope they find the cure, I believe it was some type of wart.

[anons]

Wow, anything is possible..­ANYTHING!!

It makes me wonder about ancient folk tales, stories referring to giants and monsters, etc. If this man popped up 1000 years ago and communities told tales about him, we would certainly be reflecting on his story today as some sort of allegory and not a real person..How much of what we believe to be make believe is actually rooted in reality..just a thought.

[barriosbabe]

it's causd by HPV - the same virus the big pharma is selling that bogus vaccine for!

[GnitenGoodLk]

That's what this doc says. I think he's wrong which is why he wants to do more tests....this is a different organism. The government wouldn't ban an HPV positive medical case but a fungal/mycobial one which is easily shed to others who may have low immunity? Definitely...

Methinks this one won't get into the medical journals for a reason....some things are better left unpublishe­d...they'r­e rare enough and you want to keep it that way!

This doc:

"He also has a $524,000 grant from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration to investigate allergic reactions to natural rubber latex."

Ya....riii­ght....lat­ex allergies...uh huh

http://www.umm.edu/news/releases/gaspari.htm

Glad we're on top of it though. It looks to me more fungal in origin. Immune response is improved with Vitamin A but he will need anti-viral (ahem...an­ti-fungal) "tree-tment" indefinitely. Just my guess, that area has probably already been treated to kill it. Now this guy has to be treated.

Sometimes our government actually does good things.

[KOisGod]

Rent the Elephant Man, if you want to see the story about someone who was horribly aflicted, but underneigh the repulsive exterior, was a beautiful, gentle soul.

Too bad the ugliness within, weren't visible to the naked eye.