Rory Feek's Daughter, 12, Airlifted to Hospital for Heart Emergency

Rory Feek Still Wears His Ring 2 Years After Wife Joey's Death

Rory Feek is grateful for his family’s health.

But just days ago, the wellbeing of his 12-year-old daughter Indiana—whom he welcomed with his late wife Joey Feek—was in jeopardy. Just two weeks after Indy underwent open-heart surgery for a congenital heart defect, Rory and his wife Rebecca Feek had to rush her to the hospital in the middle of the night.

The musician wrote on his Substack that Indy’s symptoms began with a headache and a cough, however it escalated to vomiting in the middle of the night during which Indy passed out and was unable to be woken.

“I’m not going to go into the moment-by-moment details that led to us to calling 911,” he wrote, “both us holding her in our arms, literally crying, begging for help - but let’s just say that neither Rebecca, nor I, have been as scared in our lives as we were Thursday morning.”

He added, “I can hardly think it, let alone write it… but we thought we had lost her.”

Indy was rushed to a local Waco, Texas, ER by paramedics where a doctor did an echocardiogram, the results of which indicated Indy should be taken immediately to a hospital in Austin via helicopter. Rebecca accompanied Indy in the helicopter while Rory drove in their truck.

“By the time I arrived,” he wrote, “a team of doctors and nurses were already surrounding Indy, prepping and explaining to us that the area around her heart had filled up with fluid and it was constricting her heart’s ability to beat properly and they were going to have to take her back into surgery to drain the fluid.”

Rory Feek/Substack

According to the country singer, doctors explained the fluid was a side effect of the surgery Indy had undergone weeks earlier, with the inflammation creating an excess of fluid around the heart, noting it couldn’t have been caused or prevented.

“Once again, Rebecca and I again made the walk down the hall with Indy on a gurney and kissed her goodbye in the same area we did last time,” Rory wrote, “and two hours later, met her in a room in the same ICU, where she’d originally been brought after her open-heart surgery… exactly two weeks ago - almost to the hour.”

Thankfully, Indy’s surgery—during which doctors removed 610 ccs of fluid from around her heart—was a success, with her heart rate quickly returning to normal.

Instagram/Rory Feek

“The doctors say that Indy is doing great and should make a full recovery, and hopefully have no further problems like this in the future,” Rory added. “And so, the color has returned, not just to Indy’s face, but to her Mama and Papa’s too.”

For the “Gentleman” singer, the ordeal was an important reminder “how no matter how well things are going and how good life seems on the surface, that in a moment everything can turn on a dime, and how we need to cherish each and every moment we have.”

Now, he and Rebecca have a deeper appreciation for every moment.

“I’d say, Indy and our family aren’t just okay today, we’re more alive than ever,” he wrote. “More grateful than ever been before.”

For more stars who have shared their health scares with the world, read on.

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