Tanner Martin’s five-year battle with colon cancer — which he and his wife, Shay Wright, chronicled on their shared social media accounts, capturing moments of hope, heartbreak and their daughter’s birth — ended Wednesday, with the announcement of his death at age 30.
In a 5-minute video posted Wednesday on Instagram and TikTok, the Utahn begins with, “Hey, it’s me, Tanner. If you are watching this, I am dead.” He then emphasizes his desire to be lighthearted, adding that he made the video for Wright, intending for her to share it after his death to give her space and time to grieve.
“Thank you for all that you did for me while I was here, and all the support and love that you showed me and my little family,” Martin told followers.
In another video posted Wednesday on both platforms, Martin asks followers to consider donating to a GoFundMe campaign to help Wright raise their newborn daughter, AmyLou.
“The GoFundMe is to help replace what I would be there for,” he said, sitting on a couch next to AmyLou. “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.”
Wright wrote in the video’s caption, “Tanner’s last wish. He joked while making this ‘for the price of a McChicken, you could fund my AmyLou’s legacy fund.’”
The GoFundMe campaign, created Wednesday, raised over $276,000 in a matter of hours.
“With the time he had left, his heart was focused on their future — providing for his baby girl’s dreams, college or wedding, and making sure his wife wasn’t left to carry it all alone," the GoFundMe campaign reads. “Your support — whether it’s $1, $5, $50, or more — goes directly to helping Tanner’s two greatest loves, Shay and AmyLou, move forward with hope and security."
Martin was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in November 2020 when he was 25, according to posts on the couple’s social media. In February 2023, Wright wrote that Martin’s oncologist no longer felt the cancer is curable.
“Cure has been the goal these past 2.5 years,” Wright wrote. “A goal that has felt just within reach for so long. With this news, I have felt completely defeated and hopeless.”
Despite Martin’s prognosis, the couple announced in 2024 they were expecting their first child. The couple later revealed that, because of Martin’s health, they used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to start Wright’s pregnancy.
The couple announced the birth of their daughter on May 15.
“We have done everything in our power to make sure AmyLou knows her dad; letters, videos, gifts for birthdays, and now we have this place for her to come, sit and get to know who he was,” the couple posted in a video showing them approach Martin’s gravesite.
On Saturday, Wright announced on Instagram and TikTok that Martin made the “brave decision” to move to hospice to “better manage his pain and discomfort.”