U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum has announced he is suspending his campaign, but vowed to continue to support the Republican bid for the presidency.

Santorum made the announcement Tuesday in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, just a day after his daughter Bella was discharged from a hospital where she spent three days being treated for a rare genetic condition known as Trisomy 18. Santorum said her illness caused the family to think about his decision to leave the race. He said the family is looking forward to spending a lot more time with Bella in the future.

Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, would have faced a tough primary contest in his home state with the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney, later this month.

In a variation on his catchphrase, “game on,” Santorum assured his supporters Tuesday that “the game is a long, long way from over.” He said he plans to continue fighting to ensure that the United States is a “beacon of freedom” around the world.

Santorum was only a marginal candidate last year when a large slate of Republican contenders entered the race for the Republican nomination for the presidency. But his voter support grew as candidates dropped out, and in recent weeks, he had been second only to Romney in the four-person race, which also included former House speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Representative Ron Paul.