It’s hard enough to be a child in today’s world, but imagine that your parents decided you were too ugly to be a part of their lives. You’ll feel devastated, right?
Jono has Treacher Collins Syndrome.
Jono has Treacher Collins Syndrome.Jono has Treacher Collins Syndrome.
hat means he was born without some of the bones in his face and with impaired hearing.
What he learnt in his life is to just stay positive.
What he learnt in his life is to just stay positive.What he learnt in his life is to just stay positive.Jono’s not sad about this.
He says he’s lucky, as many people with Treacher Collins need up to 70 separate surgeries to make their lives bearable.
His parents left him alone!His parents left him alone!His parents decided they couldn’t deal with his condition and they dumped him with social services just 30 hours after his birth.
His parents left him alone!
He was later adopted by a woman named Jean Lancaster.
He’s not at all like the other boys.
He’s not at all like the other boysHe’s not at all like the other boys.
It was at school that Jono learned he wasn’t the same as other boys, “They’d pull their eyes down, or run away, yelling that they’d catch my disease.
After growing up…
I’d ask Jean why they did that, and she’d cry.
Then I felt guilty that I’d made my mom cry.”
After growing up…
After growing up…
Jono was bullied at school, and he hated his own appearance for a long time.
He was something of a rebel.
The turnaround in his life.
The turnaround in his life.
The turnaround in his life.
Jono got a stern talking to from his boss at a bar where he thought everyone was laughing at him and it made him turn his life around.
The positive side
The positive side
The positive side
After talking to a skinhead who jokingly told Jono he was lucky to be deaf because then he wouldn’t hear his wife complaining, Jono found a positivity in laughter.
Fate changes with time.
Fate changes with time.
Fate changes with time.
Today, Jono works as an inspirational teacher talking about Treacher Collins.
“My parents still want nothing to do with me,” he says, “What’s changed is my attitude, and that’s so powerful.
[…] I wouldn’t change any of it.
My attitude was more disabling than anything.
With the right attitude, you can achieve anything.”
