Children are afraid of me...

Father-of-three Shadot Hossain is believed to suffer from 
the rare condition of neurofibromatosis - an ailment that 
causes non-cancerous tumours to erupt all over his body, 
covering him in lumps.

Mr Hossain’s condition is now so severe he is in danger of losing 
his sight due to the tumours that are covering his face and he is 
in desperate need of extensive surgery.
The 47-year-old is unable to wear clothes over the top half of his 
body and finds it difficult to feed himself.
Mr Hossain, from Shajadpur in Bangladesh, said: 
“It is very difficult to live with pain like this.
“I also suffer a lot with itching on the body and the neck. 
My body feels heavy.”

Mr Hossain also said his condition frightens young children 
when they see him – even his own son Abdullah. 

He added: 
“I cannot go outside because children are afraid of me. 
They call me ‘monster’. I wasn't always in this condition. 
I was handsome in my young age.
“Nowadays Abdullah doesn't talk to me. 
I understand why he feels like that. 
I can't do anything for my son or family.
“I feel very bad, at night I don't sleep because I feel afraid.”
Mr Hossain used to have a job as a labourer but had to leave due 
to his worsening condition and now even struggles to perform simple 
everyday tasks.
Due to him not having a job he cannot afford medicine nor pay for the necessary surgery.
His wife Tajmohel Khatun, 39, said: 
“He is not able to do anything alone now. We even need to help change 
his clothes and help with using the toilet.
“Villagers provide us with clothes to wear as I am not able to earn a living.
“My husband is ill and I have to accept this fact. 
I have gotten my two daughters married but because of our financial 
crisis I cannot send my son to school.”

She added: 
“When I married Shadot he was suffering with this disease 
but he was fine but his condition is so much worse now; slowly the 
tumours have grown.”
Mr Hossain first noticed a tumour growing on his forehead when he 
was just 13 but his condition has rapidly deteriorated in the 
past five years.
He said: 
“In the last five years the tumours covered my whole body; 
my eyes have been closed by them and I can't see properly.”
Mr Hossain’s doctor Mahmudul Hassan said he had never seen such 
a severe case of the disease.
He stated: 
“I haven't seen any case like this before. Patient Shadat's condition 
is very serious.
“We need to cut the layers from his eyes for the lack of visibility 
that he is suffering. If not cured he can lose his visibility.”
Without the money to fund the treatment themselves the family 
are relying on charity instead.
Local social worker Mohammed Mamun Biswas has been campaigning 
and collecting money on Shodat's behalf.
He said: 
“I ask the government to provide proper treatment to Shadot so he 
can get back to a normal life and support his family and help his 
boy to study.”

And thanks to Mr Biswas’s efforts Mr Hossain will go to the National 
Institute of Neuro-Sciences & Hospital in Dhaka for a full diagnosis 
and potential treatment in the coming weeks.
Ms Khatun said: 
“I pray to God to cure my husband so I don't have to live the rest 
of my life as a widow.

“There is no peace in our lives.”

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/