Tanner Martin broke the news of his own passing to his followers, sharing one last message to the community that stood by him for years.
Just 41 days after welcoming his first child with Shay Wright, a pre-recorded video of Tanner, 30, was shared on Instagram on Wednesday, June 25.
“Hey, it’s me, Tanner, if you’re watching this, I am de*d,” he said in his final goodbye to the world.
Tanner Martin delivered the heartbreaking news of his own passing through a pre-recorded Instagram video
Tanner passed away about five years after being diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer at the age of 25.
He and wife Shay became popular online for sharing their raw, emotional, and even humorous reality of living with cancer.
They built a supportive community of 577.3K TikTok followers and 451K Instagram fans, who followed along for their numerous hospital visits, multiple surgeries, and many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation.
“I had a heck of a life. I decided to make this video announcing my de*th because I saw someone did that, like, a year or so ago, and I think it’s a good opportunity to get all your thoughts out,” Tanner said as he emphasized how he wanted to keep the video lighthearted.
Calling his life “awesome,” he said, “I really enjoyed it while I was here.”
“Hopefully, I believe there’s something after this,” he added. “I’m excited to meet those people, and hopefully we’re hanging out now and making fun of all you nerds.”
“Hey, it’s me, Tanner, if you’re watching this, I am de*d,” he said in the lighthearted video
He acknowledged that the loss of life can be “scary” but also called it a “new adventure.”
After listing out names of his loved ones who have passed, he said, “There’s just a lot of people that for the afterlife, I’m excited to see them, and excited to see them not in pain and just happy.”
“Death is scary, but it’s also like a new adventure, you know,” he added. “I’m excited to see what the experience is like, and hopefully it’s good.”
Tanner also expressed his gratitude for his supportive community for making the last five years of his life “fun and enjoyable.”
“I love you guys, and seriously, thanks again for all your support and helping to make the last years of my life here on earth like fun and enjoyable and helping me be comfortable,” he said.
The popular influencer was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at age 25 and spent five years documenting his journey online with wife
Tanner’s final goodbye video was followed by another message he posthumously shared.
He asked viewers to contribute to their GoFundMe page to help his wife raise their daughter, AmyLou, affectionately nicknamed Jiaozi, without him.
In the video recorded before his passing, the loving husband and father was captured on a couch sitting right next to his baby girl.
“The GoFundMe is to help replace what I would be there for,” he said.
“It will help replace my income. It will help pay for babysitting. It will help for her school, for her wedding. All of these things that normally Shay and I would do together.”
Tanner’s last wish was to provide for AmyLou’s future without him
“Tanner’s last wish,” read the title of the video.
“He joked while making this “for the price of a McChicken you could fund my AmyLou’s legacy fund,” read the caption of the video.
Tanner had revealed in 2023 that his cancer was no longer curable, and doctors estimated he would only have another two to five years left to live.
The Utah couple opted for in vitro fertilization (IVF) to become parents together and overcame numerous challenges that came with Tanner’s illness.
The couple chose IVF to start a family, knowing that Tanner might not live to see their daughter grow up
“The hardest thing about having a kid right now is knowing the chance I won’t see them grow up,” the now-deceased father said in a March video.
“And I know that’s the risk you take, having a kid when you have cancer, but I was just always excited to be a dad,” he added.
“I am not ready for life without Tanner,” Shay said in a deeply emotional blog post
Shay wrote an emotional blog post on May 11, in which she admitted she wasn’t “ready” to start living a life without her husband.
As she shared her thoughts, she reflected on a conversation she overheard Tanner having with her parents.
“He said, ‘I don’t feel good… emotionally, I don’t feel good. I can’t eat, I can’t drink. I see guys in my cancer group get to this point, they turn into skeletons and then they di*,’” read the blog post.
“The fear in his voice was palpable. In that moment, he was confronting the reality of where his body was, and where it’s taking him,” Shay wrote. “We all cried together.”
She wrote about having a conversation with her parents the same day about feeling “the overwhelming weight of it all” hitting her.
“I started to cry. I told my parents, ‘I am not ready for life without Tanner.’ I cried, ‘I’m going to be so alone without him.’ And, ‘I don’t want to do life without him.’”
The couple made sure AmyLou would grow up with pieces of her father, like letters and videos, to remember him by
The couple previously said they did everything they could to make sure their daughter AmyLou knew her father.
They kept letters, videos, and even birthday gifts ready for her before he breathed his last.
“My heart just hurts for them,” one wrote online
