Tanner Martin, the beloved influencer whose candid posts about living with cancer touched millions, has died at the age of 30.
The news came not from a statement or press release, but from Tanner himself – in a moving, pre-recorded video posted to Instagram by his wife, Shay Wright, on Wednesday.
‘Hey, it’s me, Tanner. If you are watching this, I am dead,’ he says with a smile, opening the video with the same charm and irreverent humor that earned him so many fans.
Though visibly weakened by illness, Tanner remained disarmingly upbeat as he addressed his audience for the final time.
The farewell came just 41 days after Tanner and Shay welcomed their first child, a daughter named AmyLou. Her arrival was a bright point in what had been a long, difficult journey that Tanner and Shay chose to share publicly from the beginning, after he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer five years ago.
‘I had a heck of a life,’ Tanner told the camera, explaining his decision to record the announcement himself. ‘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.’
Though his voice was raspy and his energy low, Tanner’s message was one of gratitude, hope, and even excitement. He spoke tenderly about his wife, who now faces motherhood without him, and about his joy at becoming a father.
‘Life was awesome,’ he said simply. ‘I really enjoyed it while I was here.’
‘Death is scary, but it’s also like a new adventure, you know? I’m excited to see what the experience is like, and hopefully it’s good.’
In a second video, also shared Wednesday, Tanner appears even frailer, bundled in a blanket on the couch, his newborn daughter sleeping peacefully beside him.
He acknowledged that AmyLou, so new to the world, will likely grow up without memories of her father. Still, he beamed as he looked at her.
‘Sweetheart, I’ve been so excited to meet you. I love you so much… I’ve been waiting for this for so long,’ he whispered in a clip recorded in the hospital shortly after her birth.
Shay, in her caption, wrote simply: ‘May the force be with you from our angel force ghost 🤍 see the next video for his wish.’
That wish, Tanner explained, was for people who followed his story to continue supporting Shay and AmyLou through a GoFundMe campaign established to help them navigate life without him.
Tanner and Shay announced their pregnancy last November.
Martin is survived by his wife Shay and their daughter AmyLou.
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