Ryan Vargas‘ story begins at 11 months old. That’s when the Vargas family found out that Ryan had craniosynostosis, a birth defect diagnosed in one in every 2,000 to 3,000 kids in which the bones in a baby’s skull join together, causing problems with normal growth.
Typically, craniosynostosis is caught soon after a child’s birth. Catching it later on in life can be detrimental to development. Vargas got surgery, leaving what he considers a “lightning bolt scar” around the circumference of the top of his head.
“There are different levels of severity,” Vargas tells Frontstretch. “If you ever go out and see a young infant wearing a helmet, that’s another case of a kid potentially having craniosynostosis. “They may not ever need surgery. I had one surgery.
“But then you have other folks that I’ve been able to meet through FACES [The National Cranofacial Association] or stories that I’ve heard where people are in and out of the hospital 15 or 20 times by the time they are 18 years old. That is so difficult to listen to and hear because they are no different from you and I and they want to live a normal life and chase normal dreams.”
That last thought is what Vargas wanted to bring attention to. A few years back, he messaged Kim Fox, president of FACES: The National Craniofacial Association, on LinkedIn. Vargas was interested in reaching out to the organization, hoping to bring awareness to kids with craniosynostosis.
Since then, Vargas has appeared at the FACES camp in Tennessee and has interacted with kids that are spending time away from their family, trying to give them a normal childhood.
Throughout Vargas’ NASCAR tenure, he’s pushed for FACES to be on his racecars. It was on the quarter panel of his TikTok-sponsored No. 6 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020 when the social media app sponsored Vargas for six races. FACES also had a presence on Vargas’ car at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall of 2022 while he was sponsored by Reddit. Thousands of that diecast have been produced and sold.
“I try to use my platform,” Vargas says. “I’m very fortunate to be in this sport. I’m here to give them that voice and opportunity to tell their story because I’m one of the fortunate ones. There are a lot more that have to deal with other struggles, whether it’s physically or mentally, and I’m trying to represent…
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