Eastside swimmer's painful journey after Nuss bar rejection

“The summer after my seventh-grade year they did this procedure where they put two incisions on the side of my chest and they put in these two metal bars to pop the chest out,” Dawson said. “It’s a really difficult and painful procedure, but they thought I’d be OK.”

He wasn’t.

Dawson immediately began showing signs of an allergic reaction, developing a rash on his neck and chest. His condition worsened, and within six weeks he’d lost weight and his appetite, was able to sleep only in a recliner and was experiencing pain at every touch.