Updated Aug 25, 2015 at 8:50p ET Sometimes the rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan gets intense and nasty. Other times, it can warm even the coldest heart. This is one of the latter stories. In an announcement revealing the successful implementation of a new tool in battling heart defects, the University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital also passed along an amazing anecdote. It turns out one of its patients was a 10-year-old Toledo boy named Ivan Applin, who roots for Ohio State. According to his mother, Jennifer, young Ivan had a concern about trusting his heart to just anyone. “He asked if the Michigan doctors were going to make his heart love the University of Michigan instead of Ohio State,” Jennifer said, according to a story on Michigan’s uofmhealthblogs.com site. Pediatric cardiologist Dr. Ronald Grifka put those fears to rest and performed the procedure — in which a device called a Cardioform is inserted into the heart via a cardiac catheterization — intended to strengthen Ivan’s heart and improve blood flow. That means he doesn’t have to worry about holding back when it comes to his favorite childhood activities, including playing soccer. “We are so happy that Ivan could be treated at Michigan in a way that allows him to get back to normal kid life soon,” Jennifer Applin said. “Repairing this defect now will improve his quality of life and help him keep doing the activities he loves and run around with his siblings.” (H/T U of M Health Blogs)
Continue Reading: Young OSU fan relieved heart procedure at U-M did not alter his love for Buckeyes
