By Sam Gillette for People Magazine, published 8/20/25.
Original story featured in NYP's Health Matters
Jade Metivier was 14 years old when she had her first facial reconstructive surgery to help her eat, speak and breathe more easily. Following the procedure in May 2023, her eyes were sewn shut and she was intubated.
The teen was also sedated, but that didn’t stop her from dancing to a Taylor Swift song. A video of the sweet moment shows Jade in a hospital bed at New York-Presbyterian, in New York City, as she flutters her hands and bobs her head in time to the hit “Cruel Summer” — moves that prompted nearby nurses to come running.
“This is the first time I’ve seen an intubated patient dance,” a nurse can be heard saying in the background. “You’re a rock star.”
The joyful dance was a moment of reprieve for Jade and her parents, Christi and Mark Metivier, before she began to heal from the craniofacial disjunction surgery, in which her midfacial bones were separated from her skull so they could be moved forward. It was the first procedure to correct her midface hypoplasia — a condition that caused her eyes, jaw and cheekbones to grow at a different rate than her face — which was followed by two more complex facial surgeries.
Almost a year later, Jade was finally back in dance class, performing the aerials and twirls she loves so much.
“It changed my life,” Jade, now 16 and about to enter her sophomore year in high school in her hometown in Kansas, tells PEOPLE in a joint interview with her parents. Not only is she able to eat the pizza and sandwiches she couldn’t bite into before, she’s gained more confidence to smile and be herself.
“She was the role model for us, keeping us going,” says Christi, a 56-year-old stay-at-home mom. Mark, also 56, is a sales director at an agricultural supply chain manager and processor.
“Every aspect of her daily function has been improved. She is able to eat, speak and breathe in a way that she never could prior to the procedure,” Dr. Thomas Imahiyerobo, the director of cleft and craniofacial surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, tells PEOPLE in a statement about Jade’s recovery. “Beyond this, the impact on her physical appearance has helped her community see her for the confident and exceptional person that she truly is.”
Her proud mom adds, “We all look back and say, ‘It was completely worth it.’ ”
Jade was 2 years old when her parents, who were already raising four sons, adopted her from China in 2011. She was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, which were corrected when she was a toddler. Jade went on to have multiple surgeries over the years, but the Metiviers weren’t expecting the diagnosis of midface hypoplasia.
“As she started going through puberty, her face became concave, and it became increasingly harder for her to talk, to eat and even to breathe,” Christi recalls. “You could hear her breathe because she couldn't get her lips closed.”
When Christi learned about the extensive surgeries her daughter needed to correct the alignment of her facial bones, she says she felt like she’d been “kicked in the stomach.”
She cried the whole drive back, Christi says.
“How can I put my daughter in a situation where someone takes her face off twice and cuts her skull in half and then puts her on a ventilator?” she remembers thinking.
But Christi and Mark’s fears were eased by Dr. Imahiyerobo, who performed the rare series of procedures. The couple says they shared the information about upcoming surgeries one at a time, so Jade wouldn’t be overwhelmed.
Following the first surgery, Jade had small metal devices called distractors placed on either side of her skull. They were attached to gears, cranks and a rod on the outside of her head, so her parents could turn the distractors one millimeter a day for three weeks, slowly moving her bones forward. After the devices were removed, she had reconstructive surgery.
“We would have to leave the room and go cry, because we couldn't cry in front of her,” Christi says of that difficult time, adding that Jade “only had a couple moments where she actually just lost it.”
With the support of her parents and older brothers, Jade slowly recovered, even attending dance class with her friends, though she couldn’t actively participate when she had the distractors installed. Jade says her friends also rallied around her and texted her often to see if she was okay.
Following the procedures, Jade had to undergo speech therapy for the second time. Now, she says her friends have a much easier time understanding her.
Her parents are grateful for Dr. Imahiyerobo and the many others who made the life-changing surgery possible.
“Now, we get to see her grow and thrive,” says Christi, who has seen her daughter’s confidence grow. “She's blessed our life.”
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