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Indiana Feek’s Open Heart Surgery Has Been Delayed and Rory Feek Is Asking Fans to Keep Praying

Rory Feek comforting his daughter Indiana as she prepares for her open heart surgery.
by
  • Riley is a Senior Country Music Journalist for Country Thang Daily, known for her engaging storytelling and insightful coverage of the genre.
  • Before joining Country Thang Daily, Riley developed her expertise at Billboard and People magazine, focusing on feature stories and music reviews.
  • Riley has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Belmont University, with a minor in Cultural Studies.

The Feek family spent Wednesday morning at the hospital getting Indiana ready for surgery. Then the plans changed.

Rory Feek shared an update on social media saying that after several hours of preparation at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, the surgeon was called away for an emergency case. Indiana’s open-heart surgery has been postponed until early Thursday morning.

“Thank you for your prayers and messages,” Feek wrote. “After being at the hospital a few hours this morning getting ready for surgery, the surgeon had an emergency case come up and they had to postpone Indiana’s surgery until early tomorrow morning. We appreciate you all and will update as soon as we have one.”

The Feek Family Has Been Preparing for This Moment for Months

As we covered earlier this week, 12-year-old Indiana was born with a ventricular septal defect, a small hole in her heart that doctors hoped would close on its own. It never did. A January appointment confirmed that surgery was needed sooner rather than later.

Indiana, who has Down syndrome, told her father through tears that she didn’t want the surgery. “I want the miracle,” she said. The family’s church congregation of more than a thousand prayed for her on Sunday before the trip to Austin.

The surgery will repair the hole and is expected to require approximately 10 days in the hospital, followed by six to eight weeks of recovery at home. Her cardiologist has said the condition is not life-threatening now, but could affect her quality and length of life if left unrepaired.

Rory has raised Indiana as a single father since losing his wife and duet partner, Joey Feek, to cervical cancer in March 2016. Indiana was two years old when her mama passed.

RELATED: Ten Songs You Might Not Know Rory Feek Wrote

A delay is not the news the family wanted, but Indiana is safe, she’s surrounded by family, and the surgery is still happening. For now, the ask from Rory is the same one it’s been all week. Keep praying for his little girl.

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