His family abandoned him. A millionaire adopted him, but what he did next is hard to believe

because of his disfigured features jonah lancaster was abandoned by his birth parents 36 hours after he was born treacher coleman syndrome is caused by a genetic abnormality in the gene that controls face development on the fifth chromosome jono's hearing had been harmed as a result of his lack of cheekbones despite his unfortunate beginnings god had a plan for this child his birth hospital called a woman named jean and informed her of the abandoned baby jomo's birth mother was horrified by the child's physical appearance and experienced no maternal tie according to the adoption documents she was discharged from the hospital after 36 hours how could you not love a child jean reacted in a completely different way let's make this happen she exclaimed after a glance at me jean looked after jono for five years she attempted to contact his birth parents and send them updates regularly but all of her letters were returned unopened as a result gene adopted him a child that sped alone jono knew he was different from other youngsters his age around the age of seven children attempted to stay away from him for fear of contracting his condition i was yearning for friends and would go to any length to make them i had no faith in myself i'd go out and purchase a bunch of sweets and offer them to the other kids to make them like me jonah told the bbc i ended up doing stupid things for people to talk to me for reasons other than how i look in class i fired off a firework and i was up to no good it was frequently tied to alcohol and i had a bad reputation among other mothers and teachers then a miracle happened the disfigured youngster was lonely but he did have at least one buddy ben ben was a bartender dude you have to come with me here it's one day it's wonderful existence at the national organization for rare disorders nord conference jomo said you get drunk while working and then go out so i put on my uniform and went to work it was so terrifying that night that i could have passed out however i was pleased with myself i could only see people laughing at me i managed to last three hours people were laughing so hard that they couldn't order beverages i wanted to vanish jonah had no intention of returning but ben persuaded him to do so one day a man approached jono and inquired about his appearance jono explained why he had heard aids and why his face looked the way it did he described the humiliating dialogue that led to a life-changing and good experience i was humiliated jomo says i can't hear because i'm deaf i showed in my hearing aids i explained do they come with an on off switch a man at the bar inquired you're quite fortunate i have a wife who talks nonstop and i'd like to be able to silence her and he was laughing along with me jonah says it's not directed at me he then proceeded to buy me a drink it's something i'll never forget it's remarkable how a simple statement can have such a profound impact on your life after that i began to concentrate on the positive starting a confident life jonah's partnering work helped him build confidence in his appearance he began dating while also working out at the gym he majored in sports science in college and began working at a fitness first gym at the age of 23 he met a woman called laura richardson while at the gym i was checking her resting heart rate and it was over 100 beats per minute so i assume she liked me jono stated to the bbc she claims she noticed my face when she first met me but she no longer does it was the first time with a girl that i was able to be entirely myself he ultimately came to forgive his biological parents and began looking for them in the documentary love me love my face he chronicles his experience his biological parents on the other hand refused to meet him jonah was devastated i had a hunch that things had changed that they could be interested in knowing how delighted i was it was a disaster awful i saw it uncontrollably but i've accepted it as a fact of life it had to be one of the most difficult decisions they'd ever had to make jones speculated i discovered they've since had two additional children i'm delighted they've established a family i'm pleased and i hope that they're well jonah now travels the world sharing his experience and assisting other children facing similar challenges i take pride in who i am and treacher collins shaped me into the person i am today jono explained you can be as tough as he is jonah's inspiring story tells us that even under the most brutal of circumstances there are always individuals wanting to help and love despite his hardships jonah never hesitated to offer assistance to the people in need we can all do more to spread the word and offer love jono lancaster was born 30 years ago and his parents abandoned him after one glimpse at his face today jono who has treacher collins syndrome travels the world meeting children who have the disorder and encouraging them to use the most powerful weapon against it a cheerful attitude jono shared his story at the national organization for rare disorders nor breakthrough summit in washington d.c on october 21 teacher colin syndrome is characterized by the absence of specific facial bones as well as hearing loss in around half of those affected only roughly one in fifty thousand persons in the united states and one in one hundred in the united kingdom jono's home has it the majority of cases are autosomal dominant and are caused by mutations in the tcof one gene this week's post however isn't about dna it's about a remarkable young man who is intelligent humorous compassionate and extremely attractive from the nord conference here are jonah's own words i was born with a facial deformity due to a hereditary issue my eyes dropped down since if i have any cheekbones my small eaters are great because they don't get cold at night however i do require hearing aids one of the fortunate ones is me individuals who are more badly affected require assistance with feeding and breathing i met several children who had over 70 operations to repair problems that would make their life easier my biological parents were completely unaware they were completely taken aback when i was born i was discharged from the hospital 36 hours after my birth someone from social services was able to look after me jean the foster carer was a lovely lady she was short and all of her children were grown up but she had full of love to share social services informed jean that there was a child in the hospital with scared parents and no maternal tie how could you not love a child gene asked helen yeah let's make this happen she exclaimed after a glance at me jean was warned by social services about my looks saying that people were talking about my face she grinned as soon as she spotted me she picked me up and we instantly connected when can i take him home she inquired to the nurse jean attempted for five years to reunite with my biological parents and social services sent them updates and photos of my progress i used to be a cute little kid my parents did not open the letters and return them to me i was adopted by jean on may 18 1990 which means i had two birthdays i used to tell other kids that my mother went to the hospital and looked at all the infants before deciding on me whereas their parents were stuck with them in 2010 jono informed bbc news that he had contacted his parents again now that he was old enough to comprehend that they may have thought that they couldn't do a decent job raising but they had rejected him once more he learned that they had two healthy children gene drove me to my appointments at the hospital i felt unique we'd have a pleasant day after the appointments usually going to a museum around the age of seven i began to recognize that i was different from other children they closed their eyes or flee screaming that they'd catch my disease gene would cry if i asked why they did that then i felt bad for making my mother weep going to a science museum after surgery was the final nail in the coffin on the bus there was a couple the couple appeared to be in love holding hands and kissing they made me laugh out loud they then began to make fun of me i was used to kids on the playground making fun of me so i kept my emotions hidden then i started looking for my mother she was speaking to them while tears streamed down her cheeks when i was a teenager i began to wonder why me that prompted me to consider my birth parents how would i ever be able to start a family that will be interested in me i desired to be hip popular and appealing ben advised me to stop feeling sorry for me and returned to the bar so i put on my uniform and went to work a skinhead had a ride asteroid addicted man with muscles on top of muscles he was staring at me while holding money hoping someone else would serve him would you like something to drink i inquired about him