Australian model and swimwear designer Sahara Ray has died at just 34, less than nine months after welcoming her first child.

Ray’s family confirmed the heartbreaking news, telling TMZ that she died in a hospital surrounded by loved ones.

“She passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital,” the family said.

“She was so loved.”

An official cause of death has not been confirmed.

Ray became a mother earlier this year.

Her daughter, Snow, was born at 12:19 a.m. on January 27 at a Los Angeles hospital, according to a birth certificate obtained by TMZ.

Ray had documented parts of her pregnancy online and told followers shortly before giving birth that she was being induced.

She never publicly identified Snow’s father during her lifetime.

In what became one of her final Instagram posts, Ray shared photographs of her daughter in July.

“My whole heart,” she wrote alongside the pictures of baby Snow.

The post has taken on an especially painful meaning following her death.

Ray built a large online following through modeling, fashion and social media.

She also founded her own swimwear company, Sahara Ray Swim, and became a familiar name in celebrity media during the 2010s.

She attracted widespread attention in 2016 after being photographed vacationing with Justin Bieber in Hawaii.

She was also previously linked romantically to Australian singer Cody Simpson.

But in the years before her death, Ray had also spoken openly about serious health struggles.

In 2024, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nerves.

Ray said the illness had left her partially paralyzed.

At one point, she told followers she could not walk and was relying heavily on a wheelchair.

She described losing movement from her upper thighs down to her feet.

Ray said her health crisis followed a serious car accident involving a drunk driver.

She described the crash as sending her body into shock before she became extremely ill.

Guillain-Barré syndrome can cause weakness, numbness and paralysis, and severe cases can require prolonged rehabilitation.

But there is currently no confirmed evidence that the condition caused Ray’s death.

Her previous diagnosis should therefore be treated separately from the unanswered question surrounding her final illness.

Ray’s death was particularly shocking because of how recently she had entered motherhood.

Her pregnancy had marked a major new chapter in her life.

She revealed that she had been pregnant since May 2025 and shared glimpses of her growing baby bump before Snow’s arrival.

After giving birth, much of her public social-media activity centered on her daughter.

That is why the final images of Snow have resonated so strongly with fans.

Only months ago, Ray was introducing her baby to the world.

Now her family is mourning her sudden death.

Her younger sister Ruby has since shared an emotional tribute describing Sahara as a “force of nature” and remembering her as intelligent, funny, kind and deeply empathetic.

Ruby wrote about wanting more time with her sister — more laughter, more conversations and more moments together.

“If love alone could have kept you here,” she wrote, Sahara would have lived “a thousand lifetimes.”

Ray’s family has otherwise kept details surrounding her death relatively private.

That restraint is important because conflicting reports have already begun circulating about what happened.

As of the latest TMZ reporting, the official cause of death remains unconfirmed.

What is established is that Ray was hospitalized before her death and was surrounded by family when she passed.

Her death closes a life that had moved through several very different worlds.

She was the daughter of Australian surfing figure Tony Ray.

She became a model.

She built a fashion brand.

She became an influencer with a large international following.

She endured a serious neurological illness.

And in January, she became a mother.

That final role appeared to mean everything to her.

Her last months were increasingly defined not by celebrity headlines or modeling photographs, but by Snow.

The little girl appeared in Ray’s final Instagram grid post.

“My whole heart,” Ray called her.

Those words now stand as one of the last public messages Sahara Ray left behind.

She was 34.