WARRIOR MENTALITY: Volleyball players share more than love of the game

You could say West Orange High School volleyball players Layla Reinbolt and Millie Stone are connected by the heart.

Sure, they share true passion and love for the game. 

But, their connection is even deeper than that.

They’ve both battled heart defects, endured open-heart surgeries. What’s more, they even share the same heart surgeon.

LAYLA’S STORY

Doctors discovered Reinbolt’s heart issues early.

“We found out she had a heart murmur when she was 2 years old,” her mom, Amy Reinbolt, said. “I had taken her to the hospital for an ear infection. She had a really high fever, and they heard the murmur. Then, we started to see a cardiologist, and they could never figure out what was wrong with her. So, they just kind of monitored her and said she was growing up, and it’d work its way out.”

It didn’t.

At 6 years old, Layla Reinbolt — who has a big sense of humor and a fun personality — was lethargic, exhausted and slept more than she should.

“I took her to her regular doctor, she ordered a whole bunch of blood tests, because she did have a blood disease when she was 3 months old,” Amy Reinbolt said. “So they did all the blood tests and asked, ‘When was the last time she went to the cardiologist?’” 

That was when Reinbolt, a senior right side and middle for the Warriors varsity team, was diagnosed with a sinus venous defect that caused anomalous drainage of the right upper pulmonary vein into the right atrium of her heart. She also was diagnosed with a small atrial septal defect. 

“Her issue … was pretty rare and hard to find,” Amy Reinbolt said. “But, (the doctor) had seen it before, so they came in and told me that she needed open heart surgery to correct the situation.” 

On Valentine’s Day 2013, at just 7 years old, Layla Reinbolt lay on the operating table. She had an ASD closure patch and a partial anomalous pulmonary venous return repair with baffle redirection to the left atrium. 

After surgery, Layla resumed her normal behavior, moving around and always on the go with bolts of energy. She decided to try volleyball after getting cleared by her cardiologist and being encouraged to try sports to make her heart stronger. 

“My sister introduced me to this sport, because I was doing a bunch of different sports at the time,” Layla Reinbolt said. “This sport clicked automatically. There’s something about the sport no one really understands — like the love and passion you have on the court.” 

For the last for four years, Layla Reinbolt has been a starter on the Warriors girls varsity team. 

“I feel like my communication is very strong,” she said. “I’m always talking to people and walking through. My hitting or spiking is pretty good and so is my blocking.” 

However, every year after the surgery, Layla Reinbolt has an echocardiogram done and pays a visit to her cardiologist.

“They’ve been monitoring her since her surgery because of her age and her growing and changing,” Amy Reinbolt said. “The patch they had to do — they want to make sure it stays solid and that she would never need a stent.”

Photo by Andrea Mujica

MILLIE’S STORY

For Millie Stone, 14, a freshman outside for the Warriors JV team, the diagnosis came before she was born — during a prenatal ultrasound. She was born with a congenital heart defect called tricuspid atresia. The valve in charge of controlling the blood flow from the right upper chamber of the heart to the right lower chamber didn’t form. 

“We were at our regular ultrasound, and they said, ‘We want you to come back in two weeks,’” her mom, Jessica Stone, said. “When I went back in two weeks, it was a lot more than that. … We found that day that she was going to need three open heart surgeries, which is a lot to hear when you are pregnant.” 

Millie Stone lay on the operating table three times — when she was 5 weeks old, 5 months old and 3 years old. The surgeon who operated on her also was the pediatric cardiac surgeon who operated on Layla Reinbolt — Dr. William DeCampli. 

“The first one … they put a band on her pulmonary artery just to get the right amount of blood flow going to her lungs from the heart,” Jessica Stone said. “The second surgery is called the Glenn Procedure. … They rerouted all of (her) upper body flow so it skips the heart and just flows to the lungs. … And then the third surgery is called the Fontan Procedure, and that’s where they rerouted her lower body blood flow. Now, she just has the left side of the heart, she has one pump instead of two, she skips the whole right side of the heart — the right atrium and the right ventricle — (the blood) never goes into the right side of the heart.” 

Millie’s sister introduced her to volleyball and now she also loves the sport; this year she will step onto the court as a Lady Warrior. 

“They had a camp for incoming sixth- through incoming ninth-graders,” she said. “That’s when I first met Layla.” 

After her last surgery took place, Millie has been going to her cardiologist on an annual basis for an electrocardiogram. 

“She’s a healthy kid,” Jessica Stone said. “I love her spirit and her work ethic with her team. She’s a leader on the court, and it’s exciting to have her play at the high school level, because her older sister is a junior and she’s a setter on varsity. So, (we are) able to cheer for them both. We have two West Orange Warriors.”