Every few days to a week, the scales on Malik’s skin fall off, after he contracted a rare and potentially life-threatening disease.
“Children are very afraid of me,” Majibar Rehman Malik, 25, said in Rare Shot News ‘ YouTube documentary . He also added that his peers often call him “snake man”.
The young man, living in Bihar, West Bengal, suffered from erythroderma, also known as generalized exfoliative dermatitis – a severe inflammatory condition over most of the skin’s surface area. With only one in 100,000 people affected each year, the disease is caused by a variety of factors, including adverse reactions to medications and pre-existing conditions such as skin cancer. However, the disease can also be spontaneous.
People with the disease often experience red, inflamed skin all over the body with itchy red patches and crusted sores. This condition can lead to problems with body temperature regulation, increased metabolic rate, and life-threatening infections.
According to Jam Press , Malik’s condition appeared a few days after he was born. However, when his parents took him to the doctor, the doctors did not know about this disease. They advised the family to go to a bigger hospital, but Malik’s parents at that time could not afford the exorbitant hospital fees.
The snake-like scaly disease causes Malik’s skin to peel every few days. The video shows him covered from head to toe in scabs.
According to Malik, the disease gets better in the summer, but in the winter “the skin becomes dry and cracked”, to the point that he is forced to constantly use eye drops because he cannot blink.
The hardship the disease caused Malik was not just physical. As someone who loves to learn, Malik claims that when he went to school, his classmates became so “afraid” of his appearance that he eventually had to quit school.
Luckily, Malik gradually became resilient in the face of the debilitating disease and even made this rare condition a part of his identity. Following his brother’s advice, Malik documented his experience on Instagram to raise awareness about the disease.
“I want to tell people like me, I want to tell my followers, please continue to love me like that,” Malik said.