The 7-year-old actor who charmed America in the famous Darth Vader Super Bowl commercial is set to undergo open heart surgery—his eighth surgery in seven years. INSIDE EDITION has the scoop.
He's the little boy who charmed America in the famous Super Bowl commercial with the tiny Darth Vader who couldn't find the "force" to make things happen—until he started his dad's Volkswagen.
Or he thought he did! In the commercial, the audience can see the dad starting the car with a remote from inside the house.
Now, the boy behind the mask is facing a very grown-up health crisis. 7-year-old Max Page is about to undergo open heart surgery in Los Angeles.
INSIDE EDITION's Jim Moret was there.
Max was preparing at Children's Hospital for what would be his eighth surgery in seven years. Doctors said it would help correct the congenital heart defect he was born with.
Max has been kept alive by a pacemaker implanted in his little chest. The device allows him to play sports and goof around with his brother Ellison, just like any other kid—but his doctors say without surgery his heart could fail.
"The artery that carries the blood between the heart and the lungs is still almost the size of an infant's. It's like trying to pump gas through a straw," said Chief of Cardiology, Dr. Michael Silka.
With the open heart surgery just a day away, his mom Jennifer barely held it together when she and her husband appeared on the Today show.
"We are entering that part now where we hand our son over to very skilled and talented people, with the mission to save his life," said Jennifer.
Little Max actually made a "Can Do" list of things he hopes to do after the surgery.
He wants to continue acting. He has recurring roles on The Young and the Restless and Prime Suspect.
So Max, we have just one thing to say as you head in for your life-saving surgery: May the force be with you!
