00:00Seeing how many people around me were much taller than I was, I realized I'm kind of different.
00:06Relax. Rest onto my hand.
00:08Height is something that society universally values.
00:12Six inches can double a man's value in the market.
00:15When I was a little kid and my father measured my height, I really did not think that much of
00:19it.
00:19Every single day, he would always make me drink a glass of milk in the mornings,
00:22and sometimes I'd just throw it down the drain when he wasn't looking because I just got sick of drinking
00:27milk.
00:28And what is your goal?
00:30My goal is to be at 5'9", at least.
00:34For me, the surgery was something that I felt was a necessity.
00:39And you'd be at about 100% at two years.
00:42Yep.
00:42It's no different from wanting to work hard to improve yourself just as much as if you were wanting to
00:48go to the gym.
00:50My dad was easily the first and probably the only person I would come to regarding the surgery
00:57because I know that he would relate to me the most and that he was the only one who was
01:03capable of supporting me throughout this process.
01:06I never share my story with anybody.
01:08I want to keep this to myself.
01:10That explains why I was so adamant about not to have my face shown.
01:16For the sake of my son, he want me to share the story.
01:19Hearing him talk about his struggles a lot more openly later on in my life, I think that's when it
01:26started being an eye-opener for me.
01:28Why I was born and growing up only 5'2", God knows.
01:32But I feel rejected.
01:33I feel dejected because of my height.
01:37I just feel bad.
01:39I feel humiliated.
01:40I will not go to socialize anywhere in any event because I know how bad I would feel.
01:48Can you imagine when you speak to people, you have to look up to them?
01:53And when they talk to you, they have to look down.
01:56And you feel like you've been talked down all the time.
01:59It does help me empathize and understand the value of height in society.
02:06I came across a video on TikTok about statural lengthening surgery and that was my first exposure.
02:12That's when I realized, oh wow, that's actually a thing.
02:14So I literally searched up on Google, limb lengthening surgery.
02:18Welcome to the Statura Center at the Paleoorthopedic and Spine Institute.
02:22So I told my dad, this is something I really want to consider.
02:25I said, what have a cost?
02:26I can relate to my own feeling.
02:29Had this technology was available then, I would have gone through it.
02:34My dad offered full financial support for the surgery.
02:37It was a really deep father and son connection moment.
02:40This surgery, probably all the cost, hotel, incidental expense, close to $150,000.
02:48To me, it's worth it.
