Ari Wibowo sheds his skin like a snake every 41 days and must constantly smear his body with moisturiser to stop it hardening and seizing up.
The Indonesian teenager has a rare skin condition that doctors in Indonesia have been unable or unwilling to treat and which has left him with an extraordinary appearance.
He suffers from Erythroderma, an inflammatory skin disease also known as ‘red man syndrome’, that causes the skin over almost the entire body to become scaly and flake off.
Ari has shed his skin every 41 days since he was born 16 years ago.
Photographer Nurcholis Anhari Lubis, 35, has documented the little boy’s condition as part of an essay project and describes the boy’s skin condition as ‘scaly like a snake about to shed his skin’.
‘It’s really sad because he was not born normally and has scaly skin all over his body, similar to being severely burnt, from the sole of his feet up to his head,’ Mr Lubis told Daily Mail Australia.
‘If the boy doesn’t moisturise or soak his skin in water, his body would shrivel and harden up like a sculpture and he won’t be able to move,’ Mr Lubis said.
‘If he leaves it unattended for too long, he won’t be able to speak because the wrinkles inside his mouth would go hard and it would dry out all his blood in his body.’
Mr Lubis said Ari’s family were told by doctors at the hospital where he was born that it did not have the resources to treat the condition, and asked them to take the infant away.
He and his family now live by a routine of constant washing and dressing his skin with creams.
Still, the boy is trying to live a normal life in his village.
‘He eats normal food like everyone else and his favourite snacks are instant noodles and crackers,’ Mr Lubis said.
‘He had trouble making friends when he was younger and would often go and play with the other kids but most of the time, they would avoid him because he is different to everyone else.’
