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Mina Starsiak Hawk faced a terrifying ordeal on August 12, 2026, when she had to rush her 5-year-old daughter, Charlie, to the hospital due to complications from a tonsillectomy. This surgical procedure, aimed at removing the tonsils, took a worrying turn when Charlie suffered a post-operative bleed. Just days later, on August 14, 2026, Starsiak Hawk took to Instagram Stories to express her gratitude towards the nurses who provided exceptional care to her daughter. “Charlie needed emergency surgery for bleeding after her tonsils were removed two nights ago, and we cannot thank you enough for your hard work and dedication,” she shared.
In appreciation of their efforts, the HGTV star extended a generous 50% discount offer to nurses for programs led by her husband, Stephen Hawk, an online fitness and nutrition coach. Starsiak Hawk, known for her role in “Good Bones,” did not divulge extensive details about Charlie’s surgery or the ensuing complication. Post-operative bleeding can be classified as primary, occurring within a day of surgery, or secondary, manifesting five to ten days afterward.
In her Stories, Mina included a video in which Stephen offered his inspiration for wanting to share his coaching material with nurses. In it, Charlie could be seen jumping on a couch behind her dad, showing that she’s on the mend and doing great post-op. “Unfortunately, we recently did have to spend a little bit of time in a hospital for this little one here. She’s fine now, obviously,” he laughed. It looks like Charlie has been a trooper, but a medical emergency is always hard nonetheless.
Mina Starsiak Hawk’s daughter has undergone a previous medical procedure
This wasn’t Charlie’s first encounter with surgery. As an infant, she had to undergo a frenectomy, a procedure to address tongue or lip ties. Starsiak Hawk first disclosed this in November 2020 when Charlie was just two months old. According to her Instagram Stories, relayed by PopCulture, Charlie underwent a laser correction for her ties, which she described as potentially resulting in a “rough few days” but noted that her daughter was “all smiles” at the moment.
Following Charlie’s frenectomy, Hawks discovered that her son, Jack, also had an undetected lip tie. Her Instagram Q&A, as reported by PopCulture, highlighted her growing awareness of the issue. Starsiak Hawk elaborated on the speech-related concerns associated with such conditions in young children, explaining, “If there is too large of a connection at the back, it restricts the tongue’s ability to lift, which hampers making certain sounds.”
Besides speech concerns, lip and tongue ties can also cause issues with breastfeeding in the early months. While she never addressed the reasons, Hawk had previously expressed frustration at having been unable to breastfeed Jack. “Although I wanted to exclusively breastfeed directly, that’s not in the cards for us. So, this is how we roll,” she captioned a 2018 Instagram post that showed her pumping breast milk while feeding the baby a bottle.