26-year-old Filipino Antonio Reloy can star in horror films without makeup. Due to a very severe form of ichthyosis, which distorted his facial features and pulled together his entire body, the locals are very afraid of him and gave him the nickname "Ghost Man".
The man was born with this disease, his entire skin is covered with large, hard scales and with age his condition only worsens. Unable to endure the condemnation of society any longer, his mother abandoned him when he was only 12 years old. The father did not even see him, leaving his mother even before the birth of the child.
Antonio gradually fades, and his lips can no longer cover his teeth and they are open all the time. Only his grandmother stayed with him.
Previously, Antonio could still attend church and go to the market, but now he mostly sits at home all the time, in his wooden shack. All because the locals are terribly afraid of him, they call him a ghost and "not a man" and even an evil spirit.
He dreamed of becoming an electrician and spends his days tinkering with radios and other electronics. And he also wants to recover, as pain pierces his body with every movement, his skin is dry and very tight because of the scales.
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His only hope for improvement came when kind people decided to bring him to a clinic in Manila for examination. Doctors confirmed that he had a form of ichthyosis and prescribed a softening and moisturizing skin lotion. Better medicines for this form of the disease do not yet exist.