​​YouTuber Melanie Ham Dies at 36 After Battle with Cancer: She 'Fought Like a Warrior Queen'

Maria Pasquini
·3 min read
Melanie Ham Instagram
Melanie Ham Instagram

Melanie Ham/Instagram Melanie Ham

YouTuber Melanie Ham has died after a battle with cancer. She was 36.

Ham's husband shared the news on her social media account on Jan. 12 — noting that his "sweet, amazing, beautiful wife" tragically died nine days before their 16th anniversary.

"If you've been following our journey I'm sure you were, like us, hopeful she could defeat this insidious disease," he wrote. "Over the past few months things have been progressively getting worse and we're thankful that we made it to this point through the holidays and tried to make every moment count."

"My family, our doctors, our nurses and especially Melanie fought until the end and did all we could do to avoid today, but that is not our path. Let me reassure all those rooting for us, Melanie fought like a warrior queen," he added. "Despite the deep grief my family and I feel today we want to celebrate an amazing woman and a life well-lived. She loved passionately, created beautifully, provided abundantly and was my best friend all the way to the end."

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A post shared by Melanie-Creative Content Maker (@melaniekham)

As the touching tribute continued, Ham's husband called her an "extraordinary woman."

"She can now walk, and sing, and dance in a way her body did not allow over the last few months. She relied on her faith in Jesus all the way to the end and she will always be with me," he wrote. "I'm so immensely grateful for the gifts and messages and especially prayers, thank you."

"Peace and love to you all, hug those you love today, put up a toast of Bourbon (her favorite, that she hasn't partaken in during her journey) and say a prayer for my beautiful, strong children," he added.

RELATED: TikToker Candice Murley 'Unexpectedly' Dies at 36, Family Says: 'A Massive Shock'

Ham, who had over 810,000 subscribers on Youtube, posted weekly videos full of helpful tips and tutorials for knitting, quilting, crochet and more. Her last post was uploaded in April 2021.

In May 2020, Ham shared that she had been diagnosed with epithelioid angiomyolipoma — part of the sarcoma family of cancers, which develop in the bones and soft tissues, according to Hopkins Medicine. In the update, she shared that the type of cancer is "very, very rare" and that it "behaves differently than a typical cancer which is why it was so unpredictable."

Melanie Ham
Melanie Ham

Melanie Ham/Instagram Melanie Ham

Her most recent health update was posted in October 2021.

"Back in May you might remember I had a surgery. The goal was to be tumor free and the procedure was a success at the hands of my amazing surgeons. We were very happy with the outcome…. but only 5 weeks after surgery I had new symptoms and after a scan we discovered that the cancer spread and had become very aggressive… again," she wrote in a blog post on her website.

"The next few weeks were a really scary time. The next best option was to try and get things under control, so we immediately started a harsher chemo regimen," she continued, noting that while she and her husband "were of course hopeful," after a few rounds they learned "all the cancer was still progressing."

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After switching chemotherapy drugs in late August, Ham shared that she was briefly hospitalized due to "complications," but was doing better at home.

"We're always trying to stay optimistic that this will be the treatment that works, but the truth is there is no clear path on how to battle this, so we're just gonna keep fighting," she wrote.

A celebration of Ham's life will be held on Saturday. Colorful attire is encouraged.

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