A 16-year-old boy spends most of his time submerged in a pond to relieve the symptoms of a mysterious skin condition.

Iqbal Sheikh, from Murshidabad in West Bengal, India, experiences a painful burning sensation on his skin, and his family have taken him to several hospitals as well as traditional healers, but none have been able to identify the condition, and it has not improved.

This means that the 16-year-old has spent most of the last five years submerged in a pond, as the cool water helped to provide some relief from the painful sensations.

Videos of Iqbal recently surfaced online, showing the teen mostly submerged in the water and eating some snacks.

It’s understood that Iqbal has been living with the condition for several years, though unfortunately no-one has been able to diagnose it, Gulf News reports.

Now, however, there could be hope for Iqbal and his family to identify the strange condition which has been affecting him all these years.

After the story began to circulate on social media, it caught the attention of Anant Ambani, one of the richest people in India.

Ambani has reportedly intervened, and has organised for Iqbal to travel to Mumbai where he can receive more specialist evaluation, a journey of over 1,300 miles.

Hopefully, this will lead to a diagnosis and he can receive treatment to help manage the health condition, without having to resort to the relief from a pond.

Doctors are now anticipated to carry out examinations and evaluations of Iqbal to put together a plan for treatment or management, and it is expected that they will focus on managing the condition.

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Iqbal, a 16-year-old boy from Murshidabad, West Bengal, has spent the last 5 years living mostly in a pond. Coming out causes severe skin burning, leaving him trapped in water due to poverty preventing medical treatment, while suffering from continuous cold, cough, and pneumonia.

8:24 PM · Aug 10, 2026

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While it is not known what Iqbal is suffering from, some doctors have reportedly come out with one theory about the cause of the teenager’s pain and discomfort based on the symptoms that he has exhibited.

This a health condition called erythromelalgia.

Some of the symptoms of this rare condition include a burning sensation in the skin, as well as feeling warmth or redness.

Erythromelalgia explained
According to the NHS, erythromelalgia mostly impacts the feet, but can also affect other parts of the body as well.

Ambani has arranged for Iqbal to travel to Mumbai for assessment and treatment (Getty Stock)
The NHS goes on to say that it’s not clear what actually causes erythromelalgia, but that sometimes it may be the result of a genetic inheritance from one of a patient’s parents which leads to the condition.

Flare-ups of the condition can also be triggered by particular factors, with these typically being things which you might expect to increase someone’s body temperature.

However, while a cursory might suggest that this is the condition, at present this is still only a theory. In order to establish the condition which is actually affecting Iqbal, doctors will need to carry out thorough examinations.