Indiana “Indy” Feek, the daughter of Rory Feek and the late Joey Feek (who formed the country music duo Joey + Rory), recently underwent open heart surgery.
Indy was born in 2014. Shortly after, Joey learned that she had cervical cancer. She passed away in 2016, less than a month after Indy’s second birthday.
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Indy was born with Down syndrome. Not long after her birth, she was also diagnosed with a VSD (ventricular septal defect), which is a small hole in the heart. As Rory explained on his blog, “they say that about half of all little ones born with Down syndrome have heart issues,” and Indy is among those who do.
VSDs often close on their own or can be managed without treatment. However, they sometimes require surgery after the child grows. In Indy’s case, her VSD required surgical intervention.
Writing on his blog, Rory said that Indy’s cardiologist informed them her condition is not life-threatening. However, if left unaddressed, “it could affect not just her quality of life, but the length of life as well.”
Indy was originally supposed to go in for her surgery on Wednesday, June 24th. But due to an emergency situation with another patient, the procedure was postponed to the next day (June 25th).
Rory said, as a father, “the hardest part” of all of this has been helping Indy emotionally prepare for the surgery. “But I also know that when it’s done, it’s going to make her life better,” he wrote.
Rory Feek Shares How His Daughter, Indy, Is Doing After Her Surgery
Rory Feek had thousands of people praying for his little girl. His fans waited anxiously for an update following Indy’s surgery on June 25th.
That long-awaited update finally came later that day. In a new blog post titled “recovering,” Rory wrote that Indy was in the ICU and recovering from her operation.
Rory remarried in 2024 to a woman named Rebecca. When he and Rebecca walked into the room after Indy’s surgery, she began to cry.
