Remember the Volkswagen commercial that featured a Mini Darth Vader? The seven year old actor who played that role is named Max Page. He recently had heart surgery to treat a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot.
Max Page has a life that is somewhat different from the typical seven year old boy. He has appeared in the soap opera “The Young and the Restless” playing the role of Reed Hellstrom. The character of Reed Hellstrom is the son of characters Victoria Newman and JT Hellstrom. He was in the show “Prime Suspect”, playing the role of Owen Webb in season one, episode two, of the series.
You probably know Max Page from the volkswagen commercials that featured a mini Darth Vader. Max was dressed up in full costume for this commercial, and resembles a teeny tiny version of Darth Vader. In the ad, Mini Darth Vader tries to use “the force” on the dog, and around the house, but is unsuccessful. Later, he manages to successfully use “the force” to start his father’s Volkswagen Passat, (unaware that his dad started it by remote control). This commercial appeared during the Super Bowl.
The other way that Max Page’s life is a bit different from the lives of other little boys is because he has a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is “a rare condition caused by a combination of four heart defects that are present at birth”. The defects affect the heart’s structure and cause oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and into the rest of the body. This can cause kids who have Tetralogy of Fallot to have blue-tinged skin.
Recently, Max Page had heart surgery at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The surgery went well, and he is expected to remain in the hospital until next week. After that, he will have another six to eight weeks of recovery ahead of him. The surgery took a total of two hours, and involved the replacement of Max’s pulmonary valve.
Kids who are born with Tetralogy of Fallot can live a normal life after they have the necessary surgery to correct the heart problems. The Mayo Clinic said that children who were born with this condition might need to be careful about how much exercise they get. It probably won’t be too long before young Max Page will be ready for his next acting role, whatever it might be.
Image by mackenzieeeee on Flickr