Muhammad Mushtag, a 40-year-old Pakistani, worked as a butcher and lived a normal life until a dangerous parasite entered his body two years ago.
These small roundworms, called filariae, are carried by mosquitoes and block the lymphatic vessels when they get under the skin. This causes large swelling due to lymph congestion and the longer this condition lasts, the more swelling.
Mushtag's leg began to swell two years ago and during this time increased its volume several times, becoming covered with bumps and darkening due to circulatory disorders.
Now this leg weighs as much as 150 kg. Because of her, the former butcher has long lost his job and now he is completely dependent on his brother and his wife, who look after him.
Mushtag's only hope for amputation. For this, he is ready to pay any money, despite the fact that it can be deadly due to the risk of large bleeding.
Even when he was healthy, Muhammad was not skinny, and when he lost his mobility, he quickly became obese. Together with the leg, he now weighs almost 300 kg.
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The fatal trouble happened two years ago when Muhammad noticed a small bump on his left thigh on his leg. Feeling embarrassed by the inconvenient location of the lump, the man did not tell or show anyone about it, but in just three months the lump became so large that it was no longer possible to hide it under clothes.
Doctors gave Muhammad medicine to treat a fungal infection on his leg, but they could do nothing more.
Now the local doctor Ruman-ul-Haq is helping Mushtag find a surgeon who would undertake to cut off his injured leg.
Muhammad recently officially asked the Pakistani government to help him, to allocate money for an operation and a trip to Karachi.
A similar disease is called elephantiasis or elephantiasis and is most often found in tropical countries with hot climates. In the early stages of the disease, lymph drainage from the limb can be used, but in more severe cases, only an operation to amputate the organ is possible.