12-Year-Old Indiana Feek Has Emergency Heart Surgery Two Weeks After Initial Operation

Rory Feek said his 12-year-old daughter Indiana collapsed and required emergency heart surgery nearly two weeks after her initial open-heart operation. The incident began Thursday morning with a headache that progressed to vomiting and loss of consciousness. Feek and his wife Rebecca called 911 after Indiana fell while walking toward her bedroom.

They held her and begged for help, with Feek writing that neither parent had ever been as scared. The family first took her to a hospital in Waco, Texas, before she was airlifted by helicopter to Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin. The 30-minute flight left no room for the full family, so Feek drove his truck to the hospital.

Doctors found a dangerous buildup of fluid around Indiana’s heart that prevented proper pumping. They removed 610 cc of fluid during surgery performed almost exactly two weeks after her first operation. X-rays showed swelling around the heart had reached roughly twice its normal size.

Doctors told the family the inflammation was a known possible complication and not the result of any action or inaction by the parents. They stated Indiana is doing great and should make a full recovery with no further problems of this type expected. Indiana was born in February 2014 with a ventricular septal defect and has Down syndrome.

She had been released from the hospital on Monday morning after the first surgery, with Feek noting in a July 3 post that her care team said she was doing amazing. Feek is also the father of adult daughters Heidi and Hopie from his first marriage. Hopie previously stated that DNA testing showed Feek is not her biological father.