Weeks after becoming a dad, influencer Tanner Martin shared an emotional farewell video announcing his death.
Tanner and wife Shay Martin became beloved social media stars after they started sharing Tanner’s journey following his terminal cancer diagnosis in 2020. They shared their bucket list of adventures and things to do while Tanner could still travel and do things.
The couple visited Disney World, renewed their vows, and vacationed in Mexico and Italy. They also met actor Mark Hamil who is playing the character of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Tanner’s favorite series.
Even in Tanner’s final video, a Star Wars quote makes its way into the caption that read: “May the force be with you from our angel force ghost.”
In the video he shared on Instagram with his 455,000 followers, Tanner said, “Hey, it’s me, Tanner. If you are watching this, I am dead,” adding that his final message will be ‘lighthearted.’
He explained that he decided to make a goodbye video a year ago, sharing that he had a ‘heck of a life.’
“Life was awesome. I really enjoyed it while I was here,” he shared.
“Hopefully, I believe there’s something after this. I’m excited to meet those people, and hopefully we’re hanging out now and making fun of all you nerds.”
Tanner received the devastating diagnosis of having colon cancer aged 25. He was given between two and five years left to live since his cancer was uncurable.
Over the course of four something years, Tanner had undergone several major surgeries and over 50 rounds of chemotherapy and radiation.
“I think it’s important to talk about death, especially for other people in my situation,” Tanner told People in October last year. “This is something you want to prep for. You don’t want your spouse to have to plan your funeral and maybe not even have enough money to do so.”
The couple welcomed daughter AmyLou on May 15, 2025 and explained their decision to embrace parenthood in a TikTok video.
@tannerandshay You’ll want to watch until the end…surprise!😭😭 #cancersucks #ivf #momsoftiktok #momtok #dadtok #viralvideo #fyp @@Michael Bublé ♬ I Get to Love You – Acoustic – Mysha Didi
“Cancer has taken so much from us. I know you wanted to be a dad so badly, but I got to see you be the best dog dad. We tried IVF and planned to have a baby, but sepsis and your cancer progressing prevented us. Until now.”
A number of followers left their tributes under his final video.
“The most special human. Rest in peace sweet Tanner. Sending love and prayers to everyone left behind, especially Shay and your beautiful baby girl,” one person wrote.
“Sending prayers to you and your little girl. Heaven just gained the best angel. Love you,” another added.
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