Long Island Teen Taps Her Way Back To The Dance Floor Months After Heart Surgery

DIX HILLS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Months after undergoing delicate heart surgery, a Long Island teenager is back on the dance floor.

The 14-year-old tap dancing champion Gianna Schupler was on her way to toe-tapping stardom when she suffered a heart attack last year and nearly died, CBS2 Alice Gainer reports.

"Before I knew it, I was on the ground, twitching, my eyes rolled back, and were blackish gray," Schupler recalls.

Despite being fit from so many years of training, it was determined that Schupler had a heart attack.  Physicians discovered that she had a rare heart defect that needed emergency surgery.

"We performed an operation where we go inside the aorta and remodel the opening the artery," said Dr. David Meyer, a child surgeon with Cohen Children's Medical Center.

The surgery was a success allowing Schupler to resume her goal of winning a championship.

"Those were actually the first words out of her mouth after surgery, can I dance?" Maria Schupler, Gianna's mom said. "Not hi mom or am I OK? It was .. can I dance?"

And the answer was yes.

Now fully recovered, Schupler showed up at an event she thought was to showcase her winning routine from Nationals -- but it was actually staged so the teen could meet her dancing idol -- Val Chmerkovsky.

To say she was excited is an understatement.

The Dancing with the Stars champion had heard about Schupler's battle and wanted to meet her.

Chmerkovsky says he thinks Schupler is incredibly talented and even tried to learn a few of her unique steps.

"One day I want to be tapping on Broadway," Schupler explained. "That's one of my goals. Or make it onto Dancing with the Stars -- so we'll see what happens."