Australian model and swimwear entrepreneur Sahara Ray died at age 34 on Sunday (18) at a hospital in Los Angeles, California. The creator of the fashion label Sahara Ray Swim, who built an audience of roughly 900,000 followers on Instagram, is survived by her infant daughter, Snow Ray, born in January 2026.
Relatives announced the loss on Monday (19) through an official statement. “She passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital. She was so loved,” her family said. Following the announcement, her mother, Gretchen Bach, and her sister, Ruby, shared public tributes remembering the 34-year-old as a kind woman deeply devoted to her daughter Snow, her relatives, surfing, and the fashion industry.
Drunk driving collision at 80 mph preceded rare neurological diagnosis in 2024
The designer faced severe health challenges starting on April 8, 2024, when a drunk driver traveling at roughly 80 mph (about 128 km/h) crashed into her vehicle. Following the high-speed collision, doctors diagnosed her with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an uncommon autoimmune disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system. According to the Mayo Clinic and Brazil’s Ministry of Health, the condition frequently develops after an acute infection and triggers muscle weakness, numbness, and temporary lower-body paralysis that prevents patients from walking.
Later in 2024, the entrepreneur shared a video on social media detailing the physical toll of the neurological disorder during her recovery. “So basically, right now I’m paralyzed from the tops of my upper thighs all the way down to my feet. I can’t walk at all… I am primarily in a wheelchair and I have a walker,” Sahara Ray stated in the recording, explaining that the autoimmune condition had appeared a few weeks earlier.
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Upbringing with surfer Tony Ray shaped her fashion career across three regions
Born in Australia to professional surfer Tony Ray, the model spent her formative years in Santa Cruz, California, while spending winters in Hawaii to watch her father compete on the professional circuit. “I used to travel the world with him while he competed in the Pipe Masters and big wave contests,” she recalled in a past interview, referencing the prestigious surfing event held on Oahu’s North Shore. Before founding Sahara Ray Swim, she studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in California, and she later drew global headlines in 2016 when photographed vacationing in Hawaii with singer Justin Bieber, having previously dated Australian musician Cody Simpson in 2015.
Arrival of baby Snow Ray in January 2026 marked her final months
Earlier in 2026, the swimwear designer documented her transition into motherhood for her online audience. On January 25, 2026, she told followers she was scheduled for a labor induction at 8 p.m., and two days later, on January 27, 2026, she celebrated the arrival of her baby girl, writing on social media: “Snow Ray 1/27/2026. I can’t believe I made this little miracle with my body. I’m so proud and so in love.” Years earlier, during a 2016 interview, the Australian native had expressed her wish to eventually raise children in her home country because of its calmer pace of life: “Even in filming jobs, quality is prioritized over quantity […] that is where I want to have kids.”
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Her final post on her main Instagram grid was published on July 19, 2026, featuring a carousel of photos of her smiling infant accompanied by the caption, “My whole heart baby Snow.” Neither her relatives nor Los Angeles authorities have released an official cause of death, and there is no confirmed medical link between her passing and her 2024 Guillain-Barré syndrome diagnosis, while the identity of Snow Ray’s father remains undisclosed.
