In our world, moving up and trying not to stand out too much are ways to get ahead. People call you “odd” or “abnormal” if you don’t fit in or are a little different from them.
It’s a sad way to look at life because it puts too much emphasis on how we look and compare to our peers.
Check with Jono Lancaster. He is made of flesh and blood, just like us, but the world has shown him many times in painful ways how cruel it can be.
Jono Lancaster was born in England in October 1985, but he was different from the other babies there.
The cute little boy was born with a rare condition called Treacher Collins syndrome, which caused his facial bones to grow unevenly.
Doctors told Jono’s parents what was wrong with him and that he would likely never walk or talk. Jono’s parents couldn’t handle the shock, so they left him.
“When I was born, my parents were shocked, to say the least. 36 hours after I was born, the hospital let me go home. Social services found someone to take care of me. “The woman who took care of me was named Jean,” Jono said at the 2015 Nord Conference.
Jono’s parents put him up for adoption when he was less than two days old, leaving. The hospital called Social Services, and a great woman named Jean Lancaster took Jono in and raised him.
Jean wasn’t scared or shocked when she saw the little boy. She felt like she knew him as soon as she picked him up. Jean asked the nurse when she could bring her son home.
From the beginning, his foster mom loved and cared for him, and Jono couldn’t have asked for a better or more caring mother.
Jono’s mother helped him a lot, but when he was young, people outside his family took a while to understand him.
When Jono went to school, he started to learn more about himself. He could tell immediately that he was different from the other kids in his class.
“I thought I was the only one like me in the world. People win the lottery or become football players, doctors, or lawyers for a living. I asked myself, “Why did I have to turn out this way?” In an interview, Jono told Adelaide Now.
Knowing that a child’s intelligence has nothing to do with Treacher Collins syndrome is essential. Jono’s friends only cared about how he looked. They would run away and make faces at him, saying they didn’t want to catch his “disease.”
“I used to try to hide the fact that I was sad from my mom. “She had already done a lot for me,” he told the BBC.
But Jono didn’t give up and let his enemies win because he was with a great woman.
Jean, Jono’s foster mother, tried to get him to go back to his birth parents. But after writing to them for five years and not hearing back, she took the next step and adopted Jono on May 18, 1990.
“I have two birthdays, then. At the 2015 Nord Conference, Jono said, “I used to tell other kids that my mom went to the hospital to look at all the babies. She chose me, but they had to stay with their parents.”
Jono made it clear in an emotional Facebook post from 2015 that he will never forget his foster mom.
“This woman may not be very tall, but I’ve never met anyone with a bigger heart than her. This woman has been taking care of kids in need for 30 years. She loves a lot of people and has helped them in many ways. When a foster child moved to a new home, this woman cried because she felt she had let them down somehow. This woman took me on even though she was a single mom in her 40s and didn’t know what the future held. This woman took me in and became my family, along with Claire and Stephen. This woman is an angel who showed up for me at just the right time.
Jean is the name of this angel, and she is my mom and my hero.
When Jono was a teenager, he was very rebellious. He would sometimes do things just to draw attention to himself. It was his way of getting people to stop thinking about the real problem, which was his looks. He drank a lot of alcohol and gave people sweets to make them like him.
“I thought I was all by myself.”
But with Jean’s love and care and his strong will, Jono soon decided to be a force for good and use his experience to help others.
Jono is now 36 years old and has helped people with Treacher Collins syndrome all over the world for his whole life. He is the team leader for a group of adults with autism.
He talks to kids, gives them hope and support, and speaks to their parents about what’s happening. Jono is an inspiring teacher right now and talks a lot about the Treacher Collins syndrome.
He says, “My parents are still not interested in me.” “My attitude has changed, which is what makes it so powerful. […] It would be the same in every way. More than anything else, it was how I thought that held me back. If you have the right mindset, you can do anything.”
One of Jono’s students is Zackary Walton, two years old and from Australia.
Zackary is still young, but he has already been picked on. He will always have Jono as a friend, though.
The boy’s mother, Sarah Walton, told Adelaide Now, “We knew we had to meet him when he said he was going to Australia. We’re so glad that Zack found someone like him.”
When Jono and Zackary met for the first time in November 2014, this photo was posted on Facebook. It makes me happy to see.
Jono Lancaster’s wife
In 2015, Jono met Laura Richardson when he was working as a fitness instructor.
They fell in love, and Laura loved him no matter what Jono was going through. She saw him for who he was, and the two worked together to make people happy and smile.
Before meeting Laura, Jono always thought he would adopt kids if he wanted to start a family.
“I’ve always wanted to have my own kids. I’d like to spend some time with my dad. My adoptive mother was great, but I’ve never had a father figure in my life, and I really want one. In 2011, Jono told BBC: “I want to do whatever my child wants, like dance, gymnastics, football, etc.
Jono says that if he has a child, there is a 50% chance that it will have the same name as Treacher Collins. So, just thinking about having a child of his own made him feel many different emotions, question his morals, and wonder about himself. Even though Jono was born pretty healthy, most children with the Treacher Collins gene have serious health problems, and some are born unable to breathe.
Jono thought that maybe the best thing would be for her to be taken in by a family.
“It worked well for me, and giving a child a second chance is excellent. But Laura says she’ll want to carry a child, and she’s worried that it might be hard for her to care for someone else’s child, or that the child will just want to find its natural parents, “Jono said.
She also wants our child to be called “our” “child. And I want to help her out when she’s pregnant, like letting her sit on the couch or getting her a snack at 2 a.m.”
It’s too bad that Laura and Jono never had kids. Before they broke up and moved on, they had been together for ten years. Jono wrote about the decision on Instagram and said:
“Laura and I were together for 10 great years, but we decided to go our separate ways because we weren’t growing as a couple. They treated each other with nothing but respect, which had nothing to do with how they looked.
Some followers felt sorry for him and tried to help him see the bright side by telling him that something good can come from a broken relationship.
“I don’t think a breakup can be made to sound good. It hurt my feelings, “Jono answered.
Listen to Jono’s story in the video below. I promise it will make you different.
Even though Jono’s story is sad, it’s very inspiring to see how he uses his strength and courage to help other kids in the same situation.
I really hope we can help Jono’s story reach more people. Not just to get other people going but also to give hope and confidence to those who need it. Every once in a while, we all need a little boost.
No one should ever be judged, picked on, or poorly treated because of their appearance! Please share this if you agree!
