Warren Gatland has opened up about the devastating death of his daughter Shauna, who passed away at just four months old in 1992.
Speaking on The Dom Harvey Podcast, the Wales head coach shared the profound impact her loss has had on his life and coaching philosophy.
Shauna was born with spina bifida, a condition where the spinal cord doesn’t develop properly. Despite several scans, the severity of her condition wasn’t detected until her birth in Galway, Ireland. Gatland recalled the moment:
“She was born with spina bifida. We had a couple of scans and just did not know. She was born in Ireland, in Galway. We’d been going backwards and forwards to Ireland for a few years.”
The situation escalated quickly after her birth:
“When she was born in hospital, I didn’t realise but the midwife and nurses were crying, and all of a sudden everyone was running around and stuff. We got specialists involved.”
Gatland later learned from a specialist that Shauna’s condition was extremely severe:
“I can remember talking to one of the specialists a few days later and saying, you know, in terms of spina bifida, out of 10, how bad is she? He said probably a nine out of 10.”
Tragically, Shauna passed away in May 1992 while Gatland was on a rugby trip to Australia. He described the experience as “challenging” and admitted it took him “a number of years to get over.”
Despite the immense grief, Gatland found solace in his family. He and his wife Trudi later welcomed two children, Gabby and Bryn, and have kept Shauna’s memory alive by lighting candles on her birthday, January 17th, and another in May. Gatland believes Shauna’s passing played a role in bringing their family closer:
“I often talk to the kids about Shauna and tell them that they are probably here because of her, because we wouldn’t have had Gabby quite as soon as we did after Shauna had passed away, and then obviously we had Bryn.”
The loss also influenced Gatland’s coaching approach. He adopted a “family first” mindset, emphasizing the importance of personal well-being for players:
“Any teams that I’ve been involved in, I’ve spoken about how lucky we are to be well-paid and get those opportunities, but the most important thing in your life is your family. If things are alright at home, if you’ve got support from your family, then as a coach you get a much better product on the field.”
Gatland’s candid reflections offer a poignant insight into how personal tragedy can shape one’s professional ethos.
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