INSPIRED BY ARIANA
// By Aaron Martin (LA’94)
INSPIRED BY ARIANA
// By Aaron Martin (LA’94)
Lauren (Hallyburton) Taylor and her husband, Jason, learned a lot while they were students at Purdue, but they learned even more from their late daughter, Ariana.
Ariana was born in early 2017 after a difficult pregnancy cut short by critical complications, and she lived her whole life—just seven years—with severe health conditions. Yet Lauren (HHS’09) and Jason (T’08) see their time with her as a cherished gift that has taught them priceless lessons about love, grief, resilience, and the power of helping others.
Inspired by Ariana, who died in April 2024, they have found a way to rebuild their lives and persevere.
“We still get sad every day because we love Ariana so much, but we’re also grateful for the time we had with her,” Jason says. “Ariana was a star. Even though she couldn’t communicate verbally, she lit up the room. She liked all the same things as any little girl, but she was special. And she was very tough—her life was hard, but she just kept going. Seeing that, and knowing her and loving her, you see how precious life is.”
Before Ariana was born, Lauren and Jason were ambitiously building a life in Las Vegas. Jason worked in the engineering field and Lauren had a job as a physician assistant, but the couple—who connected at Purdue over a shared love for craft beer—had dreams of opening their own brewery.
These dreams were sidetracked by the arrival of Ariana, who required dedicated medical care from the start.
Born prematurely and without a heartbeat, Ariana spent 117 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) recovering from a brain bleed, a broken rib, heart-murmur surgery, and gastrointestinal difficulties. She was eventually diagnosed with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) and, later, spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. ANSD is a condition in which the cochlea does not connect to the brain stem properly, causing hearing difficulties.
Ariana’s gastrointestinal problems plagued her throughout her life and eventually contributed to her death.
“It was one issue after another early on, so we tried to focus on the wins,” Lauren says. “We were still unclear about her disabilities when we left the NICU, but there were signs. Once we got the cerebral palsy diagnosis, we had more direction. Diagnosis day was scary for me, but having a formal diagnosis didn’t change who she was—it just changed the care we were able to get her. A diagnosis is what helps you get the therapies and the equipment you need for your child to live a better quality of life.”
The Taylors quickly discovered how much it took to be caretakers to a child with medical complications—including how time-consuming and expensive it was. Yet they persisted.
While Jason continued to both work and develop the brewery concept, Lauren became consumed with caring for Ariana, procuring all the equipment she needed and managing all her medical appointments. This included physical and occupational therapy as well as regular visits with an ear, nose, and throat specialist; an ophthalmologist; a cardiologist; a neurologist; an audiologist; an orthopedist; and developmental specialists.
“It was a full-time job, but it’s what we did,” Lauren says. “At first, when she wasn’t reaching milestones, I wasn’t prepared for any of it. I didn’t know how to parent a child with typical needs, let alone a child with these complex needs, and I felt a lot of guilt. But we completely overcame that and moved ahead.”
Despite the many difficulties, the Taylors and their extended family focused on helping Ariana live life to the fullest. Lauren often documented their adventures and shared them on social media, using her platform to raise awareness for children with disabilities—and eventually to raise money for the cause.
“Posting on social media really helped because we could just throw open the doors to the world and show everyone that we could do this even though there were challenges,” Lauren says. “It made me happy, and it made Ariana happy, to prove that we could do a lot of the things other families could do—just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean you can’t go on vacation and have fun. We connected with so many other families in similar situations, which felt very gratifying.”
Meanwhile, the Taylors moved forward with the brewery. They brought in Lauren’s father, Ken, as an investor and brewmaster and secured and renovated a location.
Nevada Brew Works opened in 2020—just as the COVID-19 pandemic was sending the world into a tailspin. It was another obstacle, but the Taylors remained undaunted.
“There was no backup plan, so we had to make it work,” Jason says. “The timing was awful, but one benefit was that we didn’t hit a wall like a lot of other businesses because we were just getting started. We didn’t have a staff, so we were able to grow slowly as things opened up. We also have a large outdoor seating area, which many places don’t have, so people started coming to our brewery because they felt more comfortable.”
Nevada Brew Works is now thriving, and it serves as the unofficial event location for the Purdue Alumni Club of Las Vegas. Through the brewery, the Taylors also found a way to merge their dedication to Ariana with their love for craft beer, their enterprising spirit, and a newfound sense of advocacy.
Lauren and Jason discovered during the early days of caring for Ariana that insurance didn’t cover many critical equipment costs, so they were forced to search for funding to bridge the gap. They also learned that this is a common situation for many people who care for children with serious health needs.
In response, the Taylors established the Ariana Rye Foundation, which raises funds for medical equipment for children with disabilities. Beginning with the first beer poured at Nevada Brew Works, a portion of the proceeds went to the foundation.
“The foundation started out as just an idea we had—maybe we could help a couple of kids by adding a new beer on the board, putting their names by it, and donating some of the proceeds,” Jason says. “We got a great response right away, and we started to get a large following. That’s when we decided to turn it into an official nonprofit, and now the foundation donates $1,000 per child on average. We do it because we love Ariana so much, and we want to help other kids like her. It’s one way we can continue her legacy.”
In the days since Ariana died, the Taylors have concentrated on the brewery and on raising their 3-year-old daughter, Kyra. And while their formal education couldn’t help them cope with the loss of Ariana, they did lean on their Purdue experiences throughout Ariana’s life and beyond.
“We’ll always be grateful for what Purdue did for us—there are just so many ways having Purdue degrees helped us,” says Lauren, who came to the university as a highly recruited diver and spent four years on the swimming and diving team.
“Jason’s engineering job kept us afloat, and he used his professional skills a lot getting the brewery built and operational,” Lauren says. “I never would have become a physician assistant if not for Purdue. Working with the medical field can be tricky, but with my training, I was able to care for Ariana better, navigate the system more easily, and be far more involved in all her treatment. I don’t know where we’d be without the education we got.”
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