 I was born in Manchester with a unilateral cleft lip and palate in June 1992. At 3 months old my lip was repaired followed by the palate repair 7 months later. Luckily I don't recall very much of this.
A skilled team of surgeons and nurses have helped me and my family through various operations since then including a bone graft and a "nose job" to make breathing easier. When I was little, grommits were fitted to help with my hearing, but luckily I have had few problems with my hearing.
I first visited a speech therapist at 15 months old and still work with the team to improve my speech. As I am a qualified windsurfing instructor, clear speech is very important and I may need another operation to help with this.
Windsurfing is my main focus in life and I have gained enormous confidence from the sport and the people involved in it.
I don't actually mind that I was born with a cleft lip and palate, it has helped define me as an individual and maybe it has helped those around me to be more understanding of people with disfigurements.
I believe that the Healing Foundation's clinical research and cleft gene bank will improve understanding of this condition and help to develop better treatments in the future. |
