Firefighter nursing influencer dies after giving birth to their son

An emergency nurse and an online influencer who was the wife of a firefighter from the Los Angeles fire service died after giving birth to their son, shared her husband in a social media position.

Matthew Okula confirmed in an Instagram post on April 1 that his wife, Hailey Marie Okula, died of complications from childbirth. The little boy, named Crew, survived.

Hailey was known on Instagram under the name of “Nurse Hailey” and had more than 440,000 subscribers on the social media platform. She launched a program of “new graduates” to help the nurses who had just finished their diploma.

“Words cannot transmit the depth of the loss I feel,” he wrote. “Hailey was more than what I could never have dreamed of in a woman and a partner. She was magnificent, intelligent, hardworking, passionate, trustworthy, and above all, incredibly faithful. For almost 13 years, she stood by my side in the hardest moments, helping me endlessly, even when I felt unknown to this love. She was everything. ”

Hailey had struggled with infertility and followed a difficult IVF process before announcing in September that she was pregnant.

“Hailey faced each obstacle with so much courage and love – even if her body has crossed so much, she never hesitated,” wrote Matthew in the post. “I will never forget the moment when I broke down, apologizing for the balance sheet that the process would reach it. She held my face, looked me in the eye and said, “We are a team, and we will pass through it together. It was Hailey.

The Los Angeles fire service, where Matthew worked as an engineer, also paid tribute to Hailey.

“On March 29, 2025, when their child is delivered, Ms. Hailey Okula, wife of Lafd engineer, Matthew Okula, died tragically,” according to a LaFd social media position. The agency added that they “work to support the engineer Okula and his newborn, the crew, during this unimaginably difficult period”.

Matthew Okula told KTTV that Hailey had made a cardiac arrest after giving birth to their son, Crew.