Half man half tree.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, 36-year-old Dede has an extremely unusual condition which has led to his body becoming covered in branch-like structures. Dede has two children but his wife left him due to his condition and his inability to work leaving their children to be being raised by his sister in the village. Dede's only income is as a performer in an Indian circus troupe, a psychologically cruel and physiologically painful means of supporting his family. Dr. A. Gaspari, Chairman of the Department of Dermatology, University of Maryland, visits Dede to attempt to diagnose Dede's condition. He takes biopsies, tests Dede's immune system and runs genetic tests on Dede's whole family. Gaspari favours medical treatment rather than surgical. Not so in the case of Ion from Rumania who has a similar condition to Dede and is operated on by Dr. Laskar in Bucharest to remove multiple warts from his hand, a procedure which has mixed results and may not provide long-term relief. Dr. Gaspari discovers that Dede's condition is caused by his very low immune system and a voracious wart virus. He devises a treatment that should lead to the complete disappearance of the warts but Dede does not take him up on the offer, preferring for the time being to continue working with the circus troupe.