Soccer superstar David Beckham took the first flight from Los Angeles to London Thursday, upon learning his ill father had been hospitalized.

The Associated Press reports David Beckham arrived in Britain Thursday to be with his ill father. His publicist, Simon Oliveira, said the athlete’s father had suffered a heart attack.

“His father had a heart attack,” Oliveira said. “David was made aware of it late last night. He caught the first available flight and he'll be arriving in London around lunchtime.”

Beckham arrived at Heathrow airport around noon after a 12-hour flight and was immediately taken to the hospital by a car. He did not answer any questions on his way in, says the AP.

His father, 59-year-old Ted Beckham, was taken to a hospital near his home in east London on Wednesday night, and then transferred to another hospital. He seems to be out of harm’s way now.

“We can confirm that he is a patient. He's in stable condition at the London Chest Hospital,” Barts and The London NHS Trust spokeswoman Michelle Alexander said.

David’s parents are divorced. Besides David, Ted is also the father of two daughters, Joanne and Lynne.

The soccer star’s wife, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, was in Japan on business, her publicist Jo Milloy told the AP, but was also set to fly to Britain on Thursday.

David Beckham moved to Los Angeles earlier this summer, after he signed a highly publicized deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Victoria and their three children joined him across the Atlantic.

The Beckhams’ move to America has generated quite some interest from the media, especially as Victoria has been very open about her experience. She has talked about the family’s new $22 million Beverly Hills mansion and said that she is “just a normal girl from London” who happens to be “living quite a surreal life.”

Victoria and David married in 1999 and have three sons: Brooklyn, 8, Romeo, 5, and Cruz, 2.

David joined the Los Angeles Galaxy this summer on a five-year, $32.5 million contract. The 32-year-old has not played since Aug. 30, when he suffered a right knee injury.