Jono Lancaster was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, and his parents were “horrified” when they saw his face and left him at the hospital. In his life, the 38-year-old man has faced mockery and cruel treatment, and today he shares his story to inspire and help others accept themselves.
We are all different and that is something many people understand. Obviously if we compare ourselves with others, we will see that we have different eye colors, skin, hair, and even body types, an endless number of characteristics that we can also have in common.
Although all of this is something that should matter less when it comes to relating to one another, since each person’s personality and story are what truly matter. However, not everyone understands that, and that is something Jono Lancaster has seen firsthand.
Instagram: jonolanc
Jono is a 38-year-old man from West Yorkshire (England) who was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, which is hereditary and causes some bones and tissues of the face not to develop. It is for this reason that Jono was born without cheekbones and has an underdeveloped jaw as well as ‘small Bart Simpson ears’, as he refers to them.
His appearance has not gone unnoticed throughout his life, but he has learned to love it as well as to accept it. Jono explained to LADbible that his parents abandoned him as soon as he was born, but he did not know until he was 24 years old.
“Both parents were horrified by the child’s appearance. Both parents felt no maternal bond. Both parents left the hospital 36 hours later, leaving the child behind”, said the document they gave him from the hospital.
Instagram: jonolanc
And although he did not know this until then, he always tried to see the situation for himself. “When I was at university, obviously I didn’t have those words. I was putting the pieces together, I was creating the answers, and at that moment they left me because I looked different. They left me because I looked like this and it destroyed me“, he told the outlet.
Jono was adopted by a woman named Jean at the age of 5, who has been a mother to him. Likewise, he said that growing up was not easy for him.
Instagram: jonolanc
Although he received some mockery in the street, fortunately he lived in a “safe and close-knit environment”, but when he entered secondary school he came to know the cruelest side of others.
“Suddenly there were all these children who had never seen me before. I was exposed to the older children“, he told LADbible. “And then, suddenly, the pointing, the insults, the children looking down at me, they just laughed at me… that was when my differences were no longer cool, I couldn’t celebrate them“, he added.
Over the years he went through his “darkest period”, when he was going through a relationship and a breakup, but it was not permanent. At age 20 he began a “period of growth and healing”, where he opened up to his loved ones and became the confident person he is today.
Instagram: jonolanc
He tried to get in touch with his biological parents but was rejected, however he has made peace with what happened and focuses on enjoying life by being himself. He founded Love Me Love My Face Foundation, which supports people with Treacher Collins syndrome and other craniofacial conditions, and he also shares his story to inspire and help more people accept themselves.
“Now I have stripped everything away and the truth is that the only thing I know about my biological parents is that they gave me life. They brought me into this world and it is up to me to live this life and make the most of it. And it is a beautiful life now anyway, so that is why I am forever blessed“, he told LADbible.