In the southwestern Arabian Peninsula of Yemen, a man named Ali Anter was said to be the country’s oldest citizen at 140 (the age has never been officially confirmed).
Anter’s already impressive story takes a tragic turn when he dies after undergoing surgery to remove hornlike growths.
The Yemeni newspaper Aden alGhad reports that Anter, a resident of Al Jawf province, began to have these hornlike growths after he turned 100 years old.
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He died three days after attempting to remove them from his head, one of which was so large it reached the height of his mouth. The person responsible for removing the bumps has not been identified and appeared to be undertrained, according to the Mirror.
The stranger tried to pull out Anter’s “horns” with a glowing instrument. A relative of the elderly man, also unidentified by the Aden alGhad newspaper, said Ali died due to deteriorating physical and mental health. Removing the lumps may have hastened his death, but it was not thought to be the main cause.
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As reported by local media, Ali Anter had 70 grandchildren and was in good health until about five years before his death. In 2017, his condition began to deteriorate.
Ali’s bumps, often called “horns” by locals, were likely skin horns. These skin tumors are made of keratin, the protein responsible for forming nails, hair and hooves in animals. The condition is more common in older people and people with fair skin.