Patient Stories
Patient Stories
Discover how leading heart specialists at Montefiore Einstein gave these patients a second chance at life against all odds.

James
Former White Plains Deputy Police Commissioner James Bradley spent over 4 decades on the job, rarely missing a day, with energy left over for his wife, Robin, and their grandchildren. But when he suffered two massive back-to-back heart attacks, James needed a lifeline. The specialists at Montefiore Einstein were able to give him two, and the results were for the record books.
Joseph
Thirty-eight-year-old father of two, Joseph Downs, has spent much of his life playing soccer. From pick-up games at recess to indoor adult leagues in his twenties, many of Joseph’s favorite memories took place on the soccer field. But while his unbridled enthusiasm for the sport may have been without equal, an undiagnosed condition silently held him back.
Jessica
Jessica Green had been living with a damaged heart for as long as she can remember. At fifteen she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, and by twenty-one, she had a pacemaker. But Jessica never let those things slow her down. She would run, play volleyball, and shoot hoops without issue. Until everything changed just before her twenty-ninth birthday.
Phyllis
Seventy-year-old Phyllis Steel is one of the most athletic retirees you’ll ever meet. Skiing moguls, playing tennis, she does it all. But her favorite time of each day is the forty-five minutes she carves out to swim. But something threatened her athletic lifestyle when she developed an irregular beat in the upper chambers of her heart.
Mary-Margaret
Before getting sick, Mary-Margaret was forever in a state of perpetual motion. A respected pharmacist, mother, devoted tennis player, community volunteer, and tireless marathoner, she filled her days to the brim and seemed unfamiliar with the concept of slowing down. Mary-Margaret was suffering from undiagnosed Lyme carditis. Over a two-year period the condition morphed into a mysterious arrhythmia that took her out of commission and away from the things she loved.