Mini Darth Vader, 7, to Have Open Heart Surgery

PHOTO: Max Page, 7, Darth Vader in a popular Volkswagen Superbowl commercial in 2011 is having open heart surgery.

Max Page was the star of the most popular Super Bowl commercial of 2011, even though no one ever saw his face. As little Darth Vader in an ad for Volkswagen, Page used the force to start his dad’s car and skyrocket to stardom.

Now, the 7-year-old actor, who appears on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless,” is mustering all the courage he has as he prepares to undergo open heart surgery on Thursday.

When asked last year whether he was doing anything special for his heart, Page told ABC News, “no, I mean I just have lots of surgeries, but that’s it.”

Page was born with a congenital heart defect and has already undergone eight surgeries, according to NBC News. Thursday’s surgery will repair a hole in his heart and replace his pulmonary valve.


PHOTO: Max Page, 7, Darth Vader in a popular Volkswagen Superbowl commercial in 2011 is having open heart surgery.

PHOTO: Max Page, 7, Darth Vader in a popular Volkswagen Superbowl commercial in 2011 is having open heart surgery.













Page is not just a patient, but also a Junior Ambassador for the hospital he has been coming to for treatment since he was an infant.

“If you use your force and dream big, you can achieve anything. We may be small but we are mighty,” Page tells other patients, according to a press release from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

In preparation for the surgery, Page with the help of his mom, Jennifer, put together a “Can Do” list to focus on all the things he is capable of accomplishing and can control. One of the items on the list was “fun up” the house, which resulted in every room of the Pages’ home having a different name and theme.

“Everything that was boring is now in our small garage and everything that is fun is out and accessible,” Jennifer Page told NBC News. “We’re so lucky that we have an articulate son that’s able to tell us how to help him”

Jennifer Page says the list has helped her son keep everything in perspective.

“I don’t have a choice. I have to go through it,” Max said, according to his mother. “I don’t like it and it’s still scary, but I have to. So I think I might as well go through it with a good attitude.”

Max is expected to be in the hospital for five days following the surgery.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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