Shortly after birth, Reid was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition often associated with life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias). He had a defibrillator implanted at age 12 to help control his arrhythmias.

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators such as Reid's have wires, called leads, that are designed to deliver energy to the heart and normalize its rhythm should a dangerous arrhythmia occur. The device helped Reid live a normal, active life despite the cardiomyopathy. But one day, everything changed.

When complications developed, Reid and his parents turned to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. There they met pediatric cardiologist William Bonney, MD, and his colleagues at CHOP's Cardiac Center.

The family learned that a lead on Reid's defibrillator had fractured and needed to be replaced. Reid underwent a complex, 8-hour catheterization procedure called a lead extraction to replace the broken lead with a new one.

Today, Dr. Bonney continues to manage Reid's care in partnership with a cardiologist in Reid’s hometown.

Originally published February 2015