Prince orders treatment for 'elephantiasis'

A member of the Saudi royal family has ordered the treatment of a Pakistani man suffering from elephantiasis which has crippled him for nearly 20 years.

The man, a mosque preacher in the Western town of Medinah, made an appeal for help through Saudi newspapers last week after his condition continued to get worse.

'Sada' newspaper said Emir of Medinah Prince Faisal bin Salman ordered the treatment of the patient at a specialised medical centre inside or outside Saudi Arabia.

“We have received a call from the Prince asking us to take measures immediately to have this man treated,” governor Othman Al Arkani said.

Elephantiasis is a symptom of a variety of diseases, where parts of a person's body swell to massive proportions.