Living in a remote village in the wilderness of Indonesia, 36-year-old father-of-two Dede has stunned medical experts. Most of his body is covered in growths which have become so large and thick they look like twisted tree roots growing out of his skin. Dede says his worst fear is that the cruel disorder will kill him before doctors have a chance to save him.

Dede grew up in a tiny hamlet near Bandung, south of Jakarta, the capital of the volcanic island of Java. He enjoyed a completely normal childhood, but just after he turned 15 he cut his knee in an accident on a building site. The injury - not deemed to be at all serious at the time - was to change his life forever.

Within weeks, a huge growth had emerged from inside his wound. He says at first he was not unduly worried, believing it was a wart which would eventually drop off. But it didn’t.