Ivan Applin is a 10-year old that lives in Toledo, Ohio, and like most 10-year old boys from the state, he’s a huge Ohio State Buckeyes fan.
Unlike most other 10-year old boys, however, Ivan had an atrial septal defect, which means that he had holes in his heart that damage his blood flow. The older he got, the bigger he grew, the larger the holes got.
He needed surgery to fix the problem, and the University of Michigan just so happens to have a children’s hospital that specializes in implanting a device called Cardiofoam, which helps fix the problem.
When the doctor showed him the device, Ivan only had one question about it.
“He asked if the Michigan doctors were going to make his heart love University of Michigan instead of Ohio State,” his mother Jennifer said, according to a Michigan health blog.
Ivan’s surgery went well. He’s already returned home.
And early reports say that he does, in fact, still love the Buckeyes.