The child actor best known for portraying “mini Darth Vader” in a popular automotive commercial was scheduled to have his pacemaker replaced Tuesday, marking his second major operation in just over a month, officials with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles said.
Ten-year-old Max Page, who suffers from congenital heart disease and conduit stenosis, received a heart valve that was implanted by cardiologists on July 30, according to a news release issued Thursday by the East Hollywood medical center.
The latter condition was restricting blood flow into his lungs and leaking blood back into his heart, due to the narrowing of a valve that was surgically implanted in 2012.
The three-hour procedure in July was Max’s tenth since undergoing his first at the age of 3 months.
His younger sibling, Ellison, said: “My relationship with my brother’s pretty strong. It’s just kind of hard to see him going into the surgeries ‘cause then I’m kind of losing my brother for that minute of time and you’re not sure if it’s going to work.”
Fortunately, it “had a great result,” said Dr. Frank Ing, who led the team that conducted the operation, adding that the success prevented the need for open-heart surgery.
Although most viewers of the 2011 Super Bowl probably recall the television ad in which Max appeared, his face is perhaps less recognizable because he wears a Darth Vader mask and helmet throughout the 56-second spot.
The Volkswagen Passat commercial, which has since been viewed more than 62 million times on Facebook, shows a boy attempting to emulate the “Star Wars” villian’s use of “The Force” in an everyday household setting — to no avail. He seems dejected until he points his hands at the family car, whose engine roars to life after being remotely started by his father.
The day after the valve was implanted last month, the child actor took some practice golf swings while wearing shorts and a polo shirt in his hospital room.
“I’m feeling good, he said. “The staff here is really great and the doctors are very happy.”
He was released the same day.
His next procedure — the replacement of a pacemaker pulse generator in his abdominal wall — was set for next week. The device stimulated the heart muscle and with an electrical impulse to maintain the appropriate heart rate for “whatever activity Max is doing at the time” the statement said.
Since the pacemaker runs on batteries, it will have to replaced about every five to seven years, according to hospital officials.