A Promise to the Next Me: Johan’s Path to Healing and Helping

Just 18 years old, Johan stands ready to begin a new chapter in life.

As a recent graduate of high school, he is preparing for college with big dreams ahead, but his journey so far has already been extraordinary. As a cleft lip and cleft palate patient at Shriners Children’s Texas for more than a decade, Johan is now nearing the end of one of the most significant phases of his treatment: a procedure known as maxillary distraction osteogenesis.

Johan currently wears a device known as a maxillary distractor, which helps correct maxillary hypoplasia, a condition where the upper jaw is underdeveloped. The treatment involves a surgical procedure followed by the gradual movement of the jaw forward using the device. It’s a long and often uncomfortable process to endure, but one Johan has approached with admirable resilience and a sense of purpose.

“Shriners Children’s to me represents the fact that people care,” Johan said. “Everyone has put effort into making sure my life is better. Shriners Children’s is what inspired me to want to go into medicine. I look around here when I come here every week, and I just see people who put their all into making other people’s lives matter, and that’s inspirational to me.”