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Buffalo Star Rasmus Dahlin revealed in an open letter to hockey fans that her fiancée, Carolina Matovac, received a heart transplant after having known “major heart failure” while the couple was on vacation in France at the start of the summer.
The captain of the Sabers detailed the traumatic experience in a letter shared by the team on Friday. According to Dahlin, Matovac has been feeling sick for several days, which led him to experience “Major heart failure.”
Carolina Matovac and Rasmus Dahlin (26) of the Buffalo Sabers pose on the red carpet at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on February 1, 2024. (Nicole Osborne / NHLI via Getty Images)
“Fortunately, she received the RCR several times, and until a few hours at a time to keep it alive, which finally saved her life. Without receiving the RCR of life of life, the result would have been unimaginable. It is difficult to think of the worst case,” he wrote.
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Matovac stayed in life for weeks before receiving the transplant in France.
“Without the incredible commitment, the expertise, the care and the sensitivity of all the people who treated Carolina, we would not be in the position that we are today, with Carolina who recovers well and on the path of a complete recovery.”
Rasmus Dahlin (26) of the Buffalo Sabers skates during the first period against the flyers of Philadelphia at Keybank Center in Buffalo, New York, April 17, 2025. (Rebecca Villagracia / Getty Images)
Dahlin thanked the Matovac medical team, the In the NHL and NHLPA and the Pegula family for their support. He said that by sharing this experience that changes life, he hopes to remind others “appreciate our experiences, the people closest to us and the importance of living fully every day”.
“While Carolina always works through her rehabilitation to return with me to Buffalo, she has demonstrated a determination, a spirit, a positivity and an incredible resilience that I am in the world. It was undoubtedly the most difficult chapter of our life, but it is something that we have learned. We will continue to develop well. Fortunately we are.”
The defender of Buffalo Sabers Rasmus Dahlin (26) follows the washer of the first period against the Senators of Ottawa to the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on April 1, 2025. (Marc Desrosiers / Imagn Images)
Dahlin, 25, enters his eighth NHL season after being selected as a whole as a whole by Buffalo in the 2018 draft. The Swedish defender exceeded 50 points in each of his last four seasons and has been selected to represent his country 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
