Lauren Verona death: Grieving husband Ryan Gaylard honours late wife’s legacy

The grieving husband of a Queensland yoga queen who died during homebirth have revealed what doctors say wasn’t a factor in the tragedy.

Almost a year since the “unfathomable” loss of a popular Sunshine Coast yoga instructor due a rare birthing trauma, her grieving husband is honouring her legacy while raising their baby daughter alone.

Ryan Gaylard, a former Australian special forces soldier, has revealed his ongoing pain but also his gratitude for the life-changing purpose his beloved wife Lauren has given him.

The 42-year-old with the “golden locks and beaming smile” died unexpectedly just hours after the birth of their first child, on June 8, 2022, from an amniotic fluid embolism.

Sunshine Coast yoga teacher Lauren Gaylard died due to a rare birthing trauma. Picture: Facebook

The condition affects as few as two women per 100,000 and is believed to be the result of an allergic-like systemic inflammatory response to amniotic fluid entering the mother’s bloodstream.

Mrs Gaylard – also known as Lauren Verona through her Zenko Yoga studios – joyfully held her healthy newborn Lucinda to her chest before turning pale, experiencing shortness of breath and ultimately suffering cardiac arrest.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t ache,” Mr Gaylard, 47, said.

“But Lauren wouldn’t want us to dwell on her loss.

“She would always say, ‘show up – it doesn’t matter how you show up, just show up’.

“I could lie on the couch and bawl my eyes out every single day but I need to show up for myself, for the girls, and for Lauren,” he said.

Ryan Gaylard with his daughter Lucinda who will turn one on June 8. Picture: Lachie Millard

Mr Gaylard – also stepfather to Lauren’s daughters Allira, 12, and Evie, 10, whom he has on weekends – described his wife’s message as “empowering”.

“She has changed my life, and so many others’; we connected for a reason, and I always ask myself, ‘what would Lauren do?’.

“June 8 will be bittersweet because it’s our daughter’s first birthday but also the day her remarkable mother died. Allira and Evie say it was both the happiest and the worst day of their lives.”

Mrs Gaylard chose a home birth but doctors have told her husband this was not a factor in her death.

Lauren and Ryan Gaylard. Picture: Facebook

Her blood wouldn’t clot, and although she had an emergency hysterectomy at Sunshine Coast Hospital, there was not enough blood left in her body for her heart to pump.

“Losing Lauren never entered my mind – it is still unfathomable – our life together was just beginning,” Mr Gaylard said.

The couple met in 2018 after Mr Gaylard’s final deployment in Afghanistan.

“I’d become an angry man with a short fuse,” he said.

“My military career had caught up with me; I was hyper-vigilant, my brain wouldn’t switch off.

“Kabul had taught me to have eyes in the sides and back of my head – I was constantly looking for threats.

“I wouldn’t have hung around the person I was back then.”

Lauren Gaylard before her tragic death. Picture: Facebook

Mr Gaylard, the son of a Nambour cattle farmer, walked into a Zenko Yoga studio and Lauren Verona was the first person he met.

“I was struck by her beautiful golden locks and beaming smile – our daughter has that exact smile,” he said.

Mr Gaylard said his top priority was nurturing the close bond between Lucinda and her sisters.

“A friend asked me recently, ‘what fills your love tank?’ and I said, ‘seeing these girls together’; long after I’m gone, they will be there for each other.”

Lauren and Ryan Gaylard met in 2018. Five years later, Ryan is honouring her legacy after her death from post-birth complications. Photo: Facebook

As for finding new love, Mr Gaylard said “it hasn’t entered my mind”.

“I’m solely here for the girls, to give them all the love and support I can, and to continue Lauren’s legacy of having a safe place to come and practice yoga.

This Thursday, Mr Gaylard – now a qualified yoga instructor and director of Zenko in Noosa and Maroochydore – will throw open the studios’ doors for free, encouraging more people to experience yoga.

“It’s going to be a hard day – nothing is going to take away from the pain, grief and loss, but it will be a celebration of Lauren’s life and her quest to introduce more people to the healing power of yoga,” he said.