Darius Boyd’s wife Kayla opens up on her husband’s rough year with the Broncos
Kayla Boyd has opened up on the rough year her husband has endured as captain of the Brisbane Broncos and how family has helped them through.
U on Sunday
Don't miss out on the headlines from U on Sunday. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AS KAYLA Boyd tenderly feeds a bottle to her 10-week old baby daughter Romi Yves, cradled comfortably in her arms, she takes a moment to marvel at nature’s timing.
Romi was the second child she and husband Darius – both only children – had desperately wanted for two years and had been denied. Kayla endured a round of IVF in early 2018 and so many negative pregnancy tests that she lost count, taking them obsessively at the time, she says, in the hope it would prove her wrong.
On September 28, a fortnight after the Brisbane Broncos devastating finals defeat marked the end to one of the most challenging seasons of her husband’s 14-year NRL career, Kayla welcomed their second baby girl, three weeks before her October 20 due date but weighing a healthy 3.2kg.
“I just remember looking up at Darius and he was crying, I was crying,” Kayla says of the birth, one day before her 32nd birthday and one week after their daughter Willow turned four.
“Seeing Darius so emotional about it, it was just a good way to end the season for him and kick start the off season for us. She knew that she needed to come when she did. It allowed Darius to have those extra four weeks with her, which was amazing.
“You can’t go against nature’s way sometimes.”
Darius was a popular punching bag this year, with his leadership and commitment questioned by commentators and trolls after he switched from fullback to five-eighth.
He is at pre-season training with the Broncos when Kayla welcomes us into their modern Hendra home, which they took off the market two weeks before Romi’s arrival.
The fresh white linen couches and floor-to-ceiling windows are offset with pink children’s toys and a Rapunzel costume.
As we reposition the Christmas tree for the photoshoot, Willow, dressed in the same wattle yellow Seed dress as her new baby sister, proclaims that her daddy lifted her up so she could top the tree with the gold star.
“When he (Darius) went into rehab in 2014 (for mental health struggles) he learnt a lot then and he admits that he used to put football first and family had always been second,” Kayla says as she settles Romi.
“Going through that experience he learnt that family is ultimately what matters most because they are going to be there through the hard times and the good times, so definitely having a second child to look forward to (this season) and just having Willow to come home to every day when he has a difficult day at training it reminds him of what’s important.
“He and Willow are besties, joined at the hip and she is always hanging off him.’’
Kayla and Darius, who met at a nightclub on the Gold Coast in 2010 and married two years later, started trying for their second child in September 2017.
After a year of unexplained infertility and a failed IVF attempt, a consumed and dejected Kayla put her focus back on her motivational events business, Find Your Fierce, and her health, having gained 10kg during IVF treatment.
On February 10 she remembers vividly seeing the faintest second blue line appear on the single pregnancy test she had picked up that day.
“I ran upstairs to Darius in the shower and he was like “you’re not” and I was crying, he got out of the shower all wet and started hugging me, it was like a movie scene, pretty romantic as well,” she recalls, a beaming smile stretching across her face.
“I went back to the chemist and bought every test on the shelf.”
On September 27, five days before the couple were due in Sydney for the Dally M Awards, extreme pain prompted Kayla to go to the hospital, where she was told she wasn’t in labour and would be fine to fly.
Three hours later when Willow was fast asleep and Kayla was lying in bed with Darius, who was giving her a ribbing about her false labour, her waters broke and they rushed to hospital at 10:30pm.
But in eight hours of labour, Kayla had dilated just one centimetre, Romi’s blood pressure was rising and the doctors struggled to find her heart rate, so the decision was made to perform an emergency caesarean.
“I honestly thought I was dying,” Kayla recalls. “It just went from 0 to 100, but we were so grateful she was healthy and fine.”
“Having a second child, I guess we are both so much more relaxed because we’ve done it before and we wanted her for so long, so we’ve been just soaking up all the slow days and being present, just enjoying this time.”
“I just hope that they (Willow and Romi) grow up and they love each other and support each other and they are each other’s best friend.”
Darius is a good cook and he’ll be home to make Willow dinner at 5pm, before they put her down at 7pm and can enjoy a Netflix session together as a couple, which they often do to unwind.
They switched to a plant-based diet after watching the popular Gamechangers documentary and Kayla says her energy levels have vastly improved.
“We just wanted to give it a go. Darius has always tried different things throughout his career. So this was just something I think he was really inspired by because the whole documentary is about athletes and how it’s prolonged their careers,” she says, adding that Willow still eats meat and they will allow her to make those decisions herself.
The new family of four will stay in Brisbane for Christmas, having lunch with their friends and Kayla’s family at Cha Cha Char restaurant at Eagle St Pier.
They will begin construction on their new Paddington home in March and Kayla will return to her Find Your Fierce business while planning a new, joint business with Darius.
“Life after footy for him is coming up, so we are just focusing on that business, which is more about wellness and I guess everything that his journey and my life, combining Find Your Fierce and him and everything into one. It’s really exciting,” Kayla explains.
“But now we can just enjoy Christmas and start fresh next year and, as always, focus on the positives and create new memories and hopefully Darius has an incredible season.”
And hopefully, by the end of 2020, she will fall pregnant with baby number three to complete their family.
“I could have one now. If it did happen we’d be so happy,” she says.