A Utah father and influencer, Tanner Martin, announced his own death just weeks after he welcomed his first child. In a heartbreaking video, Martin said in a pre-recorded message that he lost the battle to cancer. He was 30 years old.
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The video was posted on an Instagram account he shared alongside his wife, Shay, which has more than 473K followers.
“Hey, it’s me, Tanner, if you’re watching this, I am dead,” Martin said, with the video being posted on June 25, 2025.
Tanner Martin explained that he wanted to make a lighthearted video announcing his passing following his cancer journey. He was diagnosed five years ago with stage four colon cancer. He did not have life insurance at the time.
Despite his diagnosis, Martin stated that he had a “heck of a life,” and further explained his video goodbye.
“I decided to make this video announcing my death because I saw someone did that, like, a year or so ago,” Martin said. “I think it’s a good opportunity to get all your thoughts out and also you can be thoughtful about what your partner or spouse might need and she probably needs some time to grieve.”
An Emotional Goodbye
Martin then stated that he believed in the afterlife and that he was excited to meet people there. These include his wife’s father and his biological paternal grandfather.
“Hopefully, I believe there’s something after this and I’m excited to meet those people, and hopefully we’re hanging out now and making fun of all you nerds,” Martin added. “I’m excited to see them not in pain and just happy.”
In a follow-up video, Tanner Martin shared his last wish, which was for his followers to donate to a GoFundMe set up to support his wife and their baby daughter.
“It’ll help replace my income, It’ll help pay for babysitting. It’ll help for school, for her wedding. All these things that normally Shay and I would do together,” Martin said. “If I’m gone, it’s gonna be really hard for Shay to do on her own.”
More than a month before his untimely death, Martin welcomed his baby daughter, AmyLou, his firstborn. In an emotional video, where Martin is shown holding AmyLou, Shay wrote that seeing him become a dad was her “make-a-wish.”
The GoFundMe has already raised more than $600,000. Shay, in an update, shared that money past the $500,000 mark would be donated, in part, to Rebels Against Cancer. Another part of the donations will help establish the Tanner Martin Memorial Scholarship at Utah Valley University.