The content creator died at age 33 after delivering her first child, son Crew, in March 2025
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/matt-hailey-okula-21626-2ee2e37e6f2b46cd801c383967b78344.jpg "late nursing influencer Hailey Okula's husband spreads her ashes on valentine's day")
Hailey Okula/Matt Okula/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- On Saturday, Feb. 14, Matt Okula spent time with his 10-month-old son, Crew, on his first Valentine’s Day since his wife, Hailey Okula, died of a rare childbirth complication
- The father-son duo spent the day at the late nursing influencer’s “favorite beach,” as Matt called it in the caption of his Instagram Reel posted to Hailey’s @RNNewGrads account
- Hailey died after delivering Crew via cesarean section in March 2025; she went into cardiac arrest following an amniotic fluid embolism
Matt Okula remembered his late wife, Hailey, and spent quality time with their 10-month-old son, Crew, on his first Valentine's Day since the nursing influencer's tragic death at age 33.
On Saturday, Feb. 14, Matt posted a reflective Instagram Reel to Hailey's @RNNewGrads account, which he took over after she died after delivering Crew via cesarean section in March 2025. He recorded the Valentine's Day video at "her favorite beach," as Matt wrote in the caption.
In the clip, Matt shared that they brought along a photo of the medical content creator. He said he collected "so many pictures and videos" and planned to put together a video of all of his Valentine's Days with Hailey before her death, but he ultimately changed his plans for the occasion.
RNnewgrads/TikTok
"It takes a lot of time to make these little videos, for me at least, and I didn't want to spend the whole day doing that. I wanted to spend it with Crew and create new memories," said Matt, who works as an LAFD firefighter. He continued to say that he was telling his son about Hailey's "love for the beach" and "hate for the cold water."
Before a slideshow of photos from their father-son beach day played, Matt also shared that he brought along some of her ashes. He playfully quipped, "You better believe that we'll be putting some of these ashes in this freezing cold water just to piss her off a little bit."
Hailey died after going into cardiac arrest following an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), which the National Library of Medicine describes as a rare pregnancy complication caused by “amniotic fluid, fetal cells, hair, or other debris” entering the “maternal pulmonary circulation, causing cardiovascular collapse."
Prior to her death, Hailey documented her pregnancy on her social media page. She first announced her "indescribable" expecting news on Sept. 17, 2024, detailing how she and Matt dealt "with infertility for almost two years" before conceiving through IVF.
Speaking to PEOPLE nearly one month after Hailey's death, Matt admitted that he had never previously heard of AFE, despite his involvement in the medical field. However, even if he'd been aware of the complication, he soon discovered that little could have been done to save his wife.
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"When you learn about it, it's almost more shocking to know how fatal it is, but also how there is no way of doing anything about it," Matt said in April 2025.
"The unbelievable thing to me is there's no way for prior detection of it and there's no treatment of it," he continued. "Once you see it, all you're doing is really playing catch-up and trying to prevent them from dying from whatever symptoms that they're showing."