Utah widow heads to Washington, DC, to advocate for better funding to fight cancer

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Shay Martin, a Utah widow, is in Washington, D.C., to advocate for better cancer research funding.
Her husband, Tanner, died at 30 from Stage 4 colorectal cancer in 2025.
Shay is joined by the nonprofit Fight Colorectal Cancer, urging lawmakers to reverse funding cuts initiated by the "One Big Beautiful Bill."

AMERICAN FORK — A young widow who lost her husband to cancer traveled to the United States Capitol Saturday advocating for cancer research funding.

Shay Martin, of American Fork, married her husband, Tanner Martin, in 2018. Two years later, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer.

"Tanner was 25 when he was diagnosed and 30 when he died," Shay said. "We started sharing our journey in 2023 when I was completing my master's degree and living at the hospital because Tanner had sepsis. We were able to find a community and create that connection for other people as well."

Tanner started posting about his cancer journey on TikTok, and the first three videos went viral.

"We started connecting with other cancer fighters and caregivers," Shay said. "It was nice to find support, because we felt like we were 80-year-olds in 25-year-old bodies."

The Martins' vlogging online journey attracted millions around the globe.

When Tanner passed away last year, millions watched his last video where he celebrated the life he had been given.

"If you are watching this … I am dead. Life was awesome. I really enjoyed it. I believe there is something after this. I'm excited to meet those people and hopefully we're hanging out now, and making fun of all of you nerds," Tanner said in his last video post.

Tanner's wife has continued to advocate for caregivers and cancer patients. During the first week of March, Shay will travel with the nonprofit group Fight Colorectal Cancer.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

Shay will testify in front of federal lawmakers, specifically meeting one-on-one with the Utah delegation.

"Further research will help someone like Tanner to be able to live longer," Shay said.

Shay's plea will find lawmakers who have supported a massive rollback on cancer funding. In 2025, the Trump administration slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in science and cancer research grants. Numerous studies, that had been gathering data for years, were halted. Scientists have testified in front of Congress before; showing the data of lives lost because of the effects of the "One Big Beautiful Bill."

"I will be in Washington, D.C., for four days," Shay Martin said. "I hope he's proud of me. I'm trying to do a lot of things in his honor," Shay said.

Photos

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.