Pint-Sized Darth Vader Scheduled For Heart Surgery

Max Page was born with a congenital heart disease and underwent his first surgery at 3 months old.

The world fell in love with him when he played a pint-sized Darth Vader in a 2011 Super Bowl commercial.

He was a force to reckon with. Donning a black cape, black mask and bigger-than-life personality, Max Page tries to use "The Force" to start the family car, turn on a washing machine and wake the family dog in a 60-second Volkswagen ad that went viral overnight. It garnered more than 8 million views by the time a 30-second version of it aired during the the big game.

What millions of people didn't know when they watched Max use "The Force" is that the now 10-year-old has been fighting for his life since birth.

Max was born with a congenital heart disease and underwent his first surgery at 3 months old. Recently he was diagnosed with conduit stenosis, "a condition that was restricting blood flow from the right ventricle of his heart into his lungs due to a narrowing of the pulmonary valve, which had been surgically implanted in 2012," according to doctors from Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

On July 30, he underwent his tenth surgery, according to the hospital. Max had a heart valve replaced.

He apparently kept a Bible in a bag near his gurney during the procedure for comfort while his family waited nearby.

"We had a great result. Max has a new heart valve, and we hope it will last a long time," said Frank Ing, who lead the cardiology team that worked on Max for three hours at CHLA, in a statement.

The new valve allows Max to avoid open heart surgery, according to surgeons.

He was discharged from the hospital the next day and managed to stay in good spirits: "I'm feeling good," Max said in the statement. "The staff here is really great and the doctors are very happy."

His parents were relieved the procedure was less invasive than surgeries in the past, they said in the statement.

"It's just amazing to think Max can receive a new heart valve and be out of the hospital in 24 hours," said Buck Page, Max's father. "The last time we were here for open-heart surgery, he had a 10-inch chest scar and he was on morphine for three days. Now he's going home with a couple of Band-Aids and some Tylenol."

Despite last month's success, it's not over for the little fighter who stole the public's heart years ago.

"Max will be dealing with this his entire life." Buck said. "It's something he's aware of, but he wants to experience life to the fullest and we want to make sure that he has that."

On Tuesday, Max will have another life-saving procedure to replace a pacemaker pulse generator.

"Since the pulse generator runs on batteries, it needs to be replaced at periodic intervals, usually every five to seven years," cardiothoracic surgeon Winfield Wells said in the statement.

Max is expected to make a full recovery and resume acting like a normal 10-year-old after a few months of restricted activities following Tuesday's surgery.

Since being launched into the public eye, young Max and his family have continued to support hospitals by holding fundraisers and giving back some of his earnings.

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