Real life Tarzan dies of liver cancer after living in jungle for 40 years
Ho Van Lang returned to the "civilised world" eight years ago after spending 41 years in the jungle "completely isolated" from others
A man dubbed the "real-life Tarzan" who was isolated from the modern world in the Vietnamese jungle for 40 years has died of liver cancer.
Ho Van Lang returned to the "civilised world" eight years ago after surviving 41 years in the wild with his father.
Lang and his dad, Ho Van Thanh, fled for the depths of the forest when a US bomb fell on their home and killed his mum and two siblings during the Vietnam War.
The duo lived entirely off of the land - eating honey, fruit and forest creatures, building shelters and fending for themselves.
When they emerged from the jungle to seek help for Thanh's deteriorating health in 2013, they thought the war was still raging on.
Lang died of liver cancer on Monday after meeting the "fatal consequences" of "modern life".
His friend, photographer Alvaro Cerezo, said the cause of his death was likely linked to "eating processed foods and sometimes drinking alcohol".
Cerezo said: 'I'm so sad to see him go, but for me his passing is also a liberation because I know he was suffering in the last months.
'He was a beautiful human being, to forget him will be impossible, I will miss him everyday.
'But I didn't like seeing him living in civilisation. I was always concerned that he and his body wouldn't be able to handle such a drastic change.
Lang and his dad were living in their jungle home in the Tra Bong District when a group of villagers searching for firewood stumbled upon them.
Thanh's health began to deteriorate in 2013 and Lang and his older brother Ho Van Tri decided to take him back to civilisation.
Thanh died from an unknown cause in 2017.
The three men resettled in Tay Tra district of Quang Ngai province.
Lang and his dad survived by collecting fruit and plucking starchy root vegetables from the ground, and growing corn.
When the villagers spotted the two "jungle men", wearing loin cloths and living in a timber hut, they called the local authorities.
In August 2013 officials launched a search party to track the men down, and did so in five hours.
Thanh could communicate with the locals, who spoke the minority Cor language, but Lang only knew a handful of words.
After undergoing medical tests, they were reintegrated into mainstream society.
In July 201 Lang was taken back to his childhood home which was decimated by US bombs.
According to reports, Lang had no idea that women existed after his long isolation in the jungle wilderness.
Cerezo, a photographer who tracked the family down back in 2015, said: "They always escaped when they saw people from a distance."
When asked if he knew what a female was, Lang said his father had never explained them to him but he has since seen them in the village.
"More surprising still is that today, despite being able to distinguish between men and women, he still doesn’t know the essential difference between them," Cerezo added, according to news.com.au .
"I can confirm that Lang has never had the minimum sexual desire and his reproductive instinct has never shown its head in any of its many facets."
His brother described him as a "baby in a man’s body… Lang doesn’t understand many basic social concepts. Lang has spent his whole life in the jungle.
"If I asked Lang to beat someone, he would do it severely. He doesn’t know the difference between good and bad. Lang is just a child. He doesn’t know anything.
"Most people know what is good or bad in life, but my brother doesn’t".
Lang initially struggled to adjust to village culture but Cerezo said he’s now "happily adapting to his new life".
"Lang was probably the most adorable human I have ever met in my life, he just doesn’t know what is good or bad," he said.