Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin’s fiancée, Carolina Matovac, shared her pregnancy loss in an emotional Instagram message Monday, explaining that their unborn baby “played a vital role” in discovering her heart failure last summer.
Matovac underwent a heart transplant after she remained on life support for weeks while the couple was on vacation in France, Dahlin previously explained in a letter shared by the Sabres last September.
She noted that Monday was their unborn baby’s due date, while including a photo of her being transported to a French hospital on a medical plane with Dahlin by her side.
“Today was meant to be the day we finally met you,” Matovac, 25, wrote. “You will always hold a special place in our hearts as our first baby, even though we never had the chance to meet. Our love for you is endless. Though you didn’t get to experience this world, you played a vital role in ensuring that I could continue to be a part of it.
“If it weren’t for my worries about you, we might never have called for help and gone to the hospital. Because of that decision, I was in the right place at the right time during my first heart failure. This is just one of the many reasons I am alive today, able to embrace a normal life once again.
“You are our hero, and I hope you are being well cared for in heaven. We love you baby Matovac Dahlin 👼🏻🤍🕊️.”
Dahlin and Metovac, who’ve been together for more than a decade, got engaged last year.
The defenseman — and former No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NHL draft — first revealed that his fiancée had heart failure during the offseason last year, explaining that she felt sick for a few days and received life-saving CPR on multiple occasions.
He thanked the “tremendous nurses, doctors and rehabilitation staff” at hospitals in Juan-les-Pins and Marseille, France and in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he is from.
Dahlin also applauded the NHL, the players’ association and the Sabres’ owners, the Pegula family.
He went nine days between games earlier this season while attending to his wife, and has eight goals and 29 assists for the resurgent Sabres (29-17-5).