Story and video by Lawson Martin. Photos provided by Children's Health.
Justin Miles has been racing dragsters for as long as he can remember. His dad used to race before Justin was born, and when Justin was around 8 years old, he joined a junior dragster class.
“It’s basically been a family thing from the start,” Justin says.
Justin went on to win two consecutive track championships in 2018 and 2019 in his junior dragster. However, in 2019, Justin was diagnosed with severe pectus excavatum, where the breastbone sank into the chest. This can cause pain and make it harder to take deep breaths.
Justin’s family doctor referred him to Dr. Adam Alder, chief of surgery at Children’s Medical Center Plano, director of the Center for Pectus and Chest Wall Anomalies, and an associate professor at UT Southwestern. Alder specializes in pectus and chest wall abnormalities, like Justin’s, so Justin and his family knew they were in good hands.
Alder explained to Justin that pectus excavatum makes people less efficient and causes them to burn extra calories when simply trying to do everyday activities. Justin needs a lot of upper body strength to steer his dragster. The heat of being in a cockpit of a dragster takes a lot of energy, so Alder knew an operation was essential to make Justin more efficient.
Justin and his family decided to undergo surgery on the first day they met Alder. Justin went through several months of tests before his surgery, which took place in late December 2019.
Alder reconstructed Justin’s chest using the Nuss procedure to correct severe pectus excavatum.
According to Justin, the surgery went “very smoothly.”
“The Children’s Hospital was incredible with how they did everything,” Justin says. “Honestly, they’re like family now because they’ve helped in such a tremendous way. Since the first day we went there, they were open arms, willing to help however they could.”
Alder says his goal is to get patients back to doing what they love and at a level where they’re satisfied with their performance.
Following Justin’s surgery at Children’s Medical Center Plano, his pectus excavatum was fixed, and he could get back into racing after following a closely-monitored home recovery plan.
“I’m so happy after the surgery,” Justin says. “It was tough, but it was fantastic once we got the OK to return to racing.”
Racing dragsters means the world to Justin. He says everyone he meets while racing instantly becomes family.
“You never meet a stranger at a racetrack,” he says.
Justin is thankful for his treatment at Children’s Health and wants to bring awareness to his condition and to spread the word about Children’s Health. He says he wanted other parents to know that there is a great local hospital that parents can trust to care for their children.
Alder hopes to normalize the idea that seeking healthcare when needed isn’t abnormal and is nothing to be ashamed of, but is instead a routine way to ensure you’re being as healthy as possible.
Alder then added with a laugh, “I say this to a lot of kids who are involved in sports. I say, ‘Hey, remember when you win a championship, or you get a gold medal when you get up in front of the microphone to say, ‘Thanks, Dr. Alder.'”
Justin’s goals for the future include going to the “big leagues,” which is what they call Top Fuel in drag racing. Top Fuel is a type of drag racing where dragsters are the quickest accelerating race cars in the world. Speeds can go over 300 miles per hour. Until he reaches that level of drag racing, Justin plans to win as many championships as possible.
“I hope that he can look back at the care he received and this process that he went through and see it as a valuable and meaningful step in achieving the things that he wants to achieve and becoming the person that he wants to become,” Alder says. “I hope that when he’s 60 and looking back at his life, he sees we were a part of all the success.”
Justin is eager to send a heartfelt message to Alder and Children’s Health, expressing his sincere gratitude for their unwavering support throughout his surgery and recovery, allowing him to swiftly return to his passion for racing dragsters.
“I want to send a big thank you for everything they did and for helping us out,” Justin says.
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