PHOTO: Family Disowns Mother As Rare Condition Leaves Her Disfigured

Indonesia - Sarotin, 46, was forced to flee her native village after her family had disowned her because of her appearance.
Sarotin's body is covered by hundreds of tumours as she is believed to be suffering from neurofibromatosis, a condition which causes uncontrollable growths along the nerves.
The widowed mother-of-two who only uses her first name has been suffering from this genetic condition for three years. Half of her face is obscured by a tumour, as hundreds of smaller ones cover her entire body.
She says she could not afford medical treatment in her home village in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. More after the cut.........



Although many people who have the condition inherit it from one of their parents, up to 50% develop it randomly from a gene mutation before they are born. Despite their alarming appearance, the growths and swellings are not cancerous or contagious.