“He asked if the Michigan doctors were going to make his heart love University of Michigan instead of Ohio State”, his mother Jennifer said in a UM Health Systems blog on Tuesday.
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One of the doctors reassured that he would wake up just as big of a fan of the Buckeyes as he ever was.
Even 10-year-old Ivan Applin of Toledo was concerned about that before he underwent a procedure at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital Congenital Heart Center.
A small wire-framed device, a Cardioform acts like a plug created to close holes in the heart.
Yes Ivan, we all understand your concern.
Applin, from Toledo, Ohio, is an Ohio State fan. The Applins adopted both of them after their orphanage visited Ohio on a church-sponsored trip to the United States in 2010.
“He’s been here nearly five years”, Jennifer Applin told ESPN. However, there was one specific question he had for doctors before the surgery.
“We tried to put in some subliminal messages to make him think about some other schools”, said Dr. Ronald Grifka.
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Aaaaaaaand now is when your local Buckeye fan points out the difference in records between the two programs in 2014, and says Applin’s concern is, in fact, entirely understandable. Recently approved by the FDA, the surgery will eventually allow Applin to resume playing soccer, his favorite sport. He is hoping that the attention might help him reunite with his two younger sisters.
