Chicago Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno will be away from the team for an unknown amount of time as his daughter undergoes heart surgery, the team announced Wednesday.
The Hawks called it a “brief leave of absence as his daughter undergoes follow-up surgery related to her congenital heart disease” and said neither Foligno nor the team would have further comment at this time.
Foligno’s daughter, Milana, was born with the heart condition and originally went through surgery at just 3 weeks old, according to CBC. She turned 12 on Tuesday.
“I’ll never get that ride out of my head, following an ambulance with your daughter in it and you and your wife are in the front seat with an empty car seat in the back going to the children’s hospital in Columbus,” Foligno told CBC.
In February, Foligno and his wife, Janelle, became national ambassadors for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
The Hawks will be without their captain starting with Wednesday’s game in St. Louis against the Blues (8:30 p.m., TNT). The left wing has two assists in four games this season.