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It's hard to imagine any parent abandoning their child.
But when little Jono Lancaster was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that left him with permanent facial disfigurement, his parents simply couldn’t cope.
According to BBC, they abandoned their newborn son because his disorder would be too much to handle.
Treacher Collins syndrome affects how the tissue and bones in the face develop, so Jono (now 33) doesn’t have cheekbones, meaning that his eyes droop down.
Apart from hearing and eating issues, Treacher Collins syndrome sufferers exhibit normal intelligence and develop as other children their age do.
Jono’s parents left him at the Social Welfare 36 hours after his birth. A woman named Jean Lancaster adopted him and raised him.
Although they tried to get in contact with his parents, their attempts were fruitless and they eventually to abandoned the search.
When Jono started school, he realised that he was different for all the other kids.
He told BBC his classmates would run away and pull faces at him, saying they did not want to catch his ‘disease.’
“I used to hide how unhappy I was from my mom. She had already done so much for me,” he said in the interview.
According to NTD.tv, when Jono was a teenager, he became rebellious because he struggled with accepting himself and how people reacted to him.
”I was feeling so alone. I was desperate to have friends, I’d do anything. I had no confidence. I’d buy sweets and give them to the other kids so that they’d like me.”
But everything changed when he was 19 and started working at a bar. He says although drunk people were oblivious to his presence, there were people who were genuinely interested in him and his condition.
Jono eventually completed his diploma in sports science and became a fitness instructor at a gym. There he met the love of his life, Laura.
”I just feel so relaxed in her company,” Jono told BBC. They fell in love and ended up moving to Normanton in West Yorkshire.
Eventually Jono started to accept himself and decided to use his differences to inspire others. Jono is now a team leader for adults with autism and has devoted his life to raising awareness about Treacher Collins Syndrome and how to deal with it.
Although the fact that his biological parents left him still hurts him, Jono has learned to accept it.
Jono still faces many social challenges, he has turned down cosmetic surgery. God made him this way, he says, and he is proud of who he is.
Sources: BBC, NTD.tv, Viral Thread
