Remember the "Darth Vader kid" from that awesome 2011 Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial?

Well, his name is Max Page. He's seven years old, and today, he'll be undergoing open-heart surgery.

Max was born with a heart defect, and the surgery will replace his pulmonary valve and repair a hole in his heart.

In an e-mail to the website BusinessInsider.com, Max's mom says she and Max have spoken about the upcoming surgery extensively, and even made a list of things he CAN DO while he's recovering.

That way, he won't focus on all that things he CAN'T do this summer.

She said, quote, "[Max told me], 'Mom I don't have a choice. I have to go through it.  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.'"

When he's not acting, Max helps raise money for other kids with heart conditions.  And he asked his mom to include this message from him in her e-mail...

"Kids, if you use your FORCE and dream big, you can achieve anything.  We may be small, but we're mighty!"

You can read the whole e-mail here.

 

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