Parents Abandon Their Baby Because Of “Being Too Ugly” – Look At Him 30 Years Later
Treacher Collins Syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting 1 in every 50,000 people, says the U.S. National Library of Medicine. This is a condition that affects the development of the bones and other tissues on the face, generally affecting cheekbones, jawline, and chins. Although this syndrome means a facial abnormality, that also doesn’t mean that the neural system is affected, so those who suffer this disorder are perfectly fine with the intelligence. Which means, when the kids are being bullied, they know exactly what’s going on.
Jono Lancaster is probably the most famous person with Treacher Collins syndrome.
At the NORD Breakthrough Summit, Jono said:
“I was born with a genetic condition that affects my facial features. I have no cheekbones, and so my eyes dip down. I love my little ears, they don’t get cold at night. But I do need hearing aids.”
(Image source: facebook/jono)
He become pretty much popular, so now he has 12.4k Twitter followers, 61.2k Instagram followers, and 84.4k followers on Facebook— but he’s also had an extremely challenging life. Jono was given up from his biological parents right after 36 hours when he was born, because of the way he looked. At the 2015 Nord Conference, he explained:
“When I was born, [my birth parents] were in total shock. I was out of the hospital 36 hours after I was born. Social services found someone to look after me. The foster carer was a lady called Jean.”
(Image source: instagram/jonolanc )
Jean tried to reconnect with his biological parents, and after dosens of unanswered letters, on May 28th 1990, she adopted Jono herself.
Despite having found a loving guardian, growing up was hard for Jono. In an interview with Adelaide Now, Jono says:
“I kind of felt like I was on my own, and I felt like I was the only one out in the world that was like me. People are lucky enough to win the lottery or they become professional footballers, doctors, lawyers, but, why did I have to end up looking like this?”
The feeling of loneliness helped Jono pursue the happiness he wanted to have and share, he now travels all around the world and visits children affected by various disabilities. And not only he became a source of inspiration for disabled children.
He also found a love, a beautiful blonde named Laura. They met while Jono was working in a gym, and he tells BBC (via NTD.tv), “I just feel so relaxed in her company.”
They both bought a house in Normanton, West Yorkshire, where Jono works with individuals suffering from autism, and continiues being inspiration to people everywhere.
BBC actually made a documentary starring Jono called Love Me, Love My Face and it covers his story and his attempts to reconnect with his biological parents.
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