BOSTON -- A rare surgery performed by heart surgeons at MassGeneral Hospital for Children is being called a success. A young man from Mississippi suffered for years with a chest deformity that affected his quality of life. News Center 5's Liz Brunner reported Friday on his story.

As a young teen, all Brad Lawrence wanted to do was play sports.

"I love to play baseball and I was unable to play baseball because of this. I was unable to lift weights and train and run, and do all those things I would normally like to do," he said.

At 13, Lawrence was diagnosed with pectus excavatum, a rare chest abnormality. One in about 1,000 babies are born with it.

"My chest was protruding out. And it was putting pressure on my heart and my lungs," Lawrence said. "I was having problems breathing."

He underwent surgery at 16 to correct the problem, but it was not successful. His ribs never grew back.

"If you looked carefully you could see my heartbeat through the skin and through my T-shirts," Lawrence said.

His heart and lung were not protected at all. His quality of life was affected.

"Little stuff like burping and coughing and sneezing, it would put me in a lot of pain," he said.

"The complication that he had is what we call floating sternum," said Dr. Michael Coello, a cardiac surgeon at MassGeneral Hospital for Children.

Coello was part of a team of cardiac surgeons at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children that took on Brad's case. They reconstructed his chest wall last Thursday with donated bones, his own two ribs, and a steel rod.

"The idea is that over a period of time, over many months, eventually those ribs will incorporate themselves into the sternum and stabilize," Coello said.

The surgery is being called a success. Lawrence is ready to move on.

"I'm just glad it's over. Now I can focus on healing and living a normal life," he said.