If it weren’t for two Biomet Oxford Partial knees, Terry McMillen doesn’t know if he’d still be racing.
The owner/driver of Hoosier Thunder Motorsports out of Elkhart is currently 11th in points in the National Hot Rod Association.
If he has a good showing at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, he could jump into the top 10. The top 10 then have a chance to compete for a season title.
It was just last November that McMillen could barely get in and out of his car.
After years of playing sports and drag racing, McMillen’s knees gave him constant trouble.
With the NHRA’s drug testing policy, his only relief was putting five-pound bags on his knees at the end of each day.
Finally late last year, McMillen had surgery in Elkhart with Dr. Mark Klaassen operating.
“I went in on a Thursday, left Friday and was able to walk into physical therapy on my own Monday,” said McMillen.
After three weeks of physical therapy and two weeks of rest, McMillen was back in a car.
Thursday, McMillen came to Biomet’s headquarters in Warsaw.
Starting at 3 a.m., he made himself and his car available to employees of all three shifts at the orthopedic giant.
“I just wanted to tell them how much what they do meant to me,” said McMillen. “(The knee replacements) enabled me to continue to race. At the end I couldn’t get in and out of the car. I just wanted to thank the employees.”
The surgery may also cause McMillen to change the information on his biography.
He said that he had become so bowlegged that after the surgery he grew 3/4 inch.
McMillen said he has encouraged friends in and out of the sport to get the procedure done.
In fact, two of his friends were going into surgery when he was at Biomet.
“A lot of people think it’s so invasive,” said McMillen. “They think they’ll be down forever and that’s just not the case. Because of this I’ve been able to live life again.”
McMillen’s surgery and return to racing was also featured on ESPN2.
McMillen encouraged anyone considering his procedure to go to Biomet’s website to learn more.
More information on McMillen can be found at terrymcmillen.com or hoosierthunder.com
