Blogger remarried a year after her husband died from cancer

American blogger Shay Martin announced a new marriage — exactly a year after the death of her husband Tanner, who died of stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 30. The story of their five-year struggle with the disease was followed by millions of subscribers, and it was to them that Shay decided to personally tell about the new chapter of her life.

Video instead of a press release

Shay spoke about her new marriage not in an interview or through the press service, but in her usual way — in a video posted on Instagram on August 2, writes xrust. The format is not accidental: this is how the couple once shared with the audience all the twists and turns of Tanner’s illness, and also the story of his departure.

In a comment for the American publication People, the blogger emphasized that she is grateful to those who sincerely worry about her and her daughter AmyLu, and admitted that subscribers have accumulated many questions about how their lives turned out next. That is why she decided to make a candid video, and not dosage posts.

“I want someone to love AmyLu as their own”

A special place in Shay’s address was occupied by words about conversations with her husband shortly before his death. According to her, Tanner himself talked about the future — his and his daughter's — and hoped that one day there would be a person in her life who would be able to accept AmyLou as his own and respect what he and Shay had built together.

The blogger emphasized that what she showed in the video is not a complete story, but exactly what she considered necessary to share publicly, focusing on Tanner’s wishes. She concluded her address with a phrase that became a kind of motto for their family: love does not cancel love. Tanner, she said, will always be AmyLou's father and an important part of their story, and his main message is to remain kind and assume good intentions in people.

New husband and old grief

Separately, Shay focused on the reaction of her new husband to her past. According to her, he never asked to “let go” of the memory of Tanner — on the contrary, he treats her with respect and carefully accepts the fact that his feelings for his first husband have not gone away. AmyLou, the blogger added, he loves exactly the way Tanner once wanted.

In the podcast that Shay has been hosting in recent months, she puts it another way: moving forward is not the same as moving on and leaving the past behind. According to her, even during her husband’s five-year battle with cancer, she was convinced that she would never marry again and would come to terms with loneliness. Over time, her view changed: she decided that this did not reduce the ability to love, and grief did not disappear from this anywhere — it simply became part of life next to a new feeling.

From family blog to advocacy

Shay and Tanner's story began in 2020, when the then 25-year-old was diagnosed with colon cancer. The couple almost immediately began documenting their treatment on social media, and a large community of followers grew around their account. In February 2023, doctors declared the disease incurable and gave Tanner two to five years to live.

Despite the forecast, in November 2024 the couple announced Shay’s pregnancy, and in May 2025 AmyLu was born. Tanner died in June of the same year — the news was recorded on video in advance and published after his death.

After the loss, Shay did not close the account, but turned it into a support space for people experiencing similar grief. At the same time, she launched a podcast where she listens to the stories of those who have lost loved ones, and at the same time took up educational work: in the spring, she spoke to congressmen for an organization fighting colon cancer, and also collaborated with a medical company promoting a blood test for the early diagnosis of this disease.

Why this story resonates

The phenomenon of “grief bloggers” — couples who openly show the illness and death of a loved one — has become a noticeable phenomenon in Western social networks in recent years. For some, this is a way to process trauma through dialogue with the audience, for others it is a reason for criticism: the publicity of suffering raises questions about the ethics of monetizing personal tragedy. Shay herself, judging by her words, feels this ambiguity: she emphasized that the account she shared with Tanner was never intended to be a reality show, and that her main responsibility is to her family, and not to the Internet audience.

For the Russian audience, this story is also interesting from the medical side. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, and, as in the case of Tanner, in young patients it is often detected at a late stage due to the lack of early symptoms and the alertness of doctors. Stories like the Martins' are one of the tools used in the West to raise awareness of the need for early diagnosis, including screening after 45 years, even in the absence of complaints.

Sources:

1. People — https://people.com/shay-martin-remarries-one-year-after-death-of-husband-tanner-exclusive-12020532
2. Fight Colorectal Cancer — https://fightcrc.org

Xrust Blogger remarried a year after her husband died from cancer