(CNN) — Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum will delay his return to the campaign trail in Pennsylvania after his daughter was released from the hospital Monday night.
Santorum canceled events Tuesday morning at a sporting club in Bedford and the law school he attended in Carlisle.
In a statement released after midnight, the campaign instead added an unspecified event Tuesday afternoon at a hotel in Gettysburg.
The campaign said he would still attend the evening’s American Heartland Conversation on Faith, Family and American Values at a bible college in Lancaster.
Santorum Communications Director Hogan Gidley said in the statement, “Rick and Karen are happy to announce that their daughter Bella has been discharged from the hospital and returned home earlier Monday evening. The Santorum’s are truly overwhelmed by the prayers and support they’ve received”.
He said the first two events were canceled “to allow Rick, Karen and Bella to settle in at home.”
Gidley said the family released a recent picture of Bella “so everyone could see their precious gift from God.”
Bella suffers from Trisomy 18, a serious chromosomal condition that interferes with development. Half of patients born with the condition do not survive past the first week of life, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Santorum returns to the campaign amid speculation on its future. Campaign aides have acknowledged Pennsylvania, his political state where he served in the Senate, is a must win for his candidacy. His once double digit lead in the state had slipped to single digits in a new poll, ahead of the April 24th primary.
CNN’s Steve Brusk contributed to this report.
