An incredibly popular and talented YouTube star has died. Crafting expert Melanie Ham died on January 12 after a battle with cancer. She was just 36 years old.
Her husband announced the devastating news on social media, which came just nine days before their 16th wedding anniversary. In a heartfelt post, her husband, Robert Ham, said that she "fought like a warrior queen" until the end. "If you've been following our journey I'm sure you were, like us, hopeful she could defeat this insidious disease," he shared.
"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."
His devastating post continued, "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 continued, "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."
He also shared the hopeful sentiment that now that Melanie has left her earthly body, she is at peace. He wrote that she would now be able to dance and sing and do all of the things she was no longer able to do as her cancer progressed.
"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.
Melanie was best known for her crafting expertise, which she shared with over 810,000 subscribers on YouTube. She posted videos with tips and tutorials for all kinds of projects. She was skilled at knitting, quilting, crochet, and more, but she was also so well-liked among her followers for her endearing personality.
Melanie let her followers know that she had been diagnosed with epithelioid angiomyolipoma in May 2020. She said that it's a "very, very rare" form of cancer that can also be "unpredictable." She continued to share updates on her page, all the way up until her final health update in October 2021.
In a blog post, she called it "really scary time." Her cancer was still progressing even after switching up treatments and undergoing a "harsher chemo regimen."
Melanie leaves behind her husband and two children.
