A man in India is constantly gawked at due to a rare affliction that has left his face looking like it’s melting off — but says he’s loved and respected nonetheless.
“People make fun of me and call me different names but I did not bother about them,” Govardhan Das, 52, told Jam Press.
The Punjab-based shopkeeper suffers from neurofibromatosis type 1, a super rare genetic “condition characterized by changes in skin coloring (pigmentation) and the growth of tumors along nerves in the skin, brain, and other parts of the body,” according to Medlineplus.gov.
Also known as Von Recklinghausen’s disease, the face-disfiguring disease occurs in 1 in 3,000 to 4,000 people worldwide.
Das didn’t exhibit signs of neurofibromatosis until he was 20, when the taffy-like tumors sprouted up on his face, predominantly affecting the right side. Over the next three decades, the masses snowballed to the point that he lost his right ear and eye and half of his mouth while his nose is grossly distended.
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Accompanying footage shows the storekeeper’s growths, which make it appear that half his face is hanging off in an amorphous mass.
Das’ problems aren’t merely cosmetic. As a result of the prosthetic-evoking ailment, the poor fellow struggles to see, eat or speak properly, and is in constant pain, claiming that his skin burns and itches whenever he sweats.
Worst of all, there is no cure for the tumors, which are only augmenting with age. Doctors have reportedly refused to operate on Das as they claim the condition is related to his brain and is therefore impossible to treat.
Nonetheless, the patient refuses to let his debilitating affliction define him. “I feel uncomfortable moving freely in the market because people stare at me and children get scared of me but my family and my villagers love me and respect me,” he declared.
Das isn’t the first neurofibromatosis sufferer who didn’t let their condition get them down. A Manchester, England, woman, who lost her eye due to the affliction, has turned her optic disability into optimistic, comedic source material that’s gone viral on TikTok.