Firefighter Rich found fitness as a way of coping with cleft while growing up.
He smiled: “More than anything, what really helped when I was upset or wound up, was my mum’s advice to go for a run or bike ride.”
In his early teens, Rich was picked for the school rugby team.
“Playing rugby and keeping fit kept my mind off everything. Not just my cleft or the name-calling and bullying, but the normal teenage stuff too.
“No one cares about looks in rugby. Everyone’s different shapes and sizes – big lads as props and little guys as wingers – all looking a bit odd, it’s brilliant.”
Rich’s firefighter role includes youth intervention work, and he said he always steers young people towards fitness or some form of physical activity.
Finding something you enjoy stops you worrying about the other things while you’re doing it.
“It takes your mind off what’s getting you down and you always feel better afterwards. Even now, at 44, if I’m having a bad day, I’ll go to the gym, for a run, or get out on my bike. It works every time.
“For kids that aren’t so physical, I say go out for a walk, get outside, or do something actively creative like drawing or writing. I used to write stories as a kid – they weren’t very good, but they kept my mind busy.
“Finding something you enjoy stops you worrying about the other things while you’re doing it.”
Rich was born in Yorkshire with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, and had multiple surgeries as a baby.
“I had to wear a hat with a brace connected to it. After one of my operations, my arms were put in splints to stop me pulling at my face, like a dog wearing a cone!”
Rich is the eldest of four siblings, and now has two children of his own with his wife Kate. His younger sister has a seven-year-old son with a cleft lip.
“When she found out she rang me, and I was worried for her, but I didn’t need to be because things are different now – surgeries and treatments are a lot better, and people are a little bit more understanding.”
It’s so great to speak to others on the Facebook groups, helping each other with advice and support.
Rich told his sister about CLAPA, and he’s an active member of CLAPA’s Facebook groups.
“It’s so great to speak to others on the Facebook groups, helping each other with advice and support.”
Rich had to stop playing rugby during jaw surgeries in his late teens, but continued to use fitness as a coping strategy.
“It really helped during the endless surgeries when you looked in the mirror and didn’t recognise yourself, especially as a teenager when you’re so self-aware.
“But then things got a lot better. I met my wife Kate at 19, just before I had the final nose and lip job – so that was obviously a big boost in confidence.”
Rich was looking for a career in which he could help people when he saw West Yorkshire Fire Service was recruiting for the first time in 10 years. He promptly signed up and, after two years of training, has now been in the service for the last eight years.
“Being a firefighter is the best job in the world. I love it. It’s not like going to work, and it gives my life such a purpose.”
Read more in CLAPA’s latest Cleft Youth Magazine
More than anything, what really helped when I was upset or wound up, was my mum’s advice to go for a run or bike ride.