Two weeks after undergoing open-heart surgery, Indiana Feek is back in the hospital.
Indiana “Indy” Feek, daughter of Rory Feek and his late wife, Joey, underwent surgery to repair a heart defect on June 25. The procedure wasn’t unexpected, as Indy was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) shortly after birth, a common diagnosis for individuals with Down Syndrome, according to Rory.
While many VSDs close on their own, about half require surgery. Indiana was one of those cases. Rory shared in a blog post prior to Indy’s surgery that the condition wasn’t life-threatening, but “could affect not just her quality of life, but the length of life as well.”
Indiana Feek was admitted to the hospital this week due to complications from the surgery.
On Saturday, June 11, Rory Feek detailed a frightening incident that led to Indy being transported via helicopter to the ICU. He wrote that a week after their return home from Indy’s heart surgery, things took a turn.
“It started with a headache in the afternoon, and then a cough in the middle of the night,” he wrote, adding that the “cough” was actually Indiana throwing up, something that continued through the night. Eventually, the 12-year-old passed out, and Rory and his wife, Rebecca, were unable to wake her.
“I’m not going to go into the moment-by-moment details that led us to calling 911 – 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,” Rory shared.
Paramedics transported Indy to a local hospital in Waco on Thursday (June 9), where a cardiologist determined that she should be medflighted to a Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin.
Upon arrival at Dell, it was determined that fluid had built up around Indiana’s heart, and “it was constricting her heart’s ability to beat properly.” After undergoing surgery, doctors revealed that her heart had swollen to nearly twice the size it should be, according to Rory.
Following surgery to remove excess fluid from around her heart, Indy was admitted to the ICU to recover and is expected to “make a full recovery, and hopefully have no further problems like this in the future.”
Read Rory Feek’s full account of the events leading up to Indy’s hospitalization HERE.
About Joey + Rory
Joey and Rory Feek were a married duo who were both established members of the Nashville music community. They rose to fame as competitors on the CMT show Can You Duet? in 2008.
The couple welcomed their only child together, Indiana Boone, in 2014. That same year, Joey was diagnosed with cervical cancer, but was declared cancer-free following surgery and treatment. In 2015, her cancer returned. Rory candidly documented her cancer journey on his blog, This Life I Live, gaining tens of thousands of followers. Joey died on March 4, 2016.
Rory Feek remarried in 2024. Rory, his new bride, Rebecca, and Indy recently moved to Waco, Texas.
