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Streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has revealed he has been diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer.
32-year-old Blevins, who has the most-followed Twitch channel with over 18.8 million followers, revealed the diagnosis in a statement on Twitter / X after a mole removed from his foot was found to be cancerous. Blevins said medical professionals are “optimistic” it was caught in the early stages. “I’m grateful to have hope in finding this early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups,” Blevins added.
Here’s Ninja’s statement in full:
“Alright I’m still in a bit of shock but want to keep you all updated. A few weeks ago I went in to a dermatologist for an annual skin/mole check that Jess proactively scheduled for me. There was a mole on the bottom of my foot that they wanted to remove just to be careful. It came back as melanoma, but they are optimistic that we caught it in the early stages. I had another dark spot appear near it, so today they biopsied that and removed a larger area around the melanoma with the hopes that under the microscope they will see clear non-melanoma edges and we will know we got it. I’m grateful to have hope in finding this early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups.”
Ninja became perhaps the most recognisable name in streaming by playing Fortnite on Twitch from late 2017. He’s since broken out from the video game space to become a mainstream celebrity in his own right, appearing on TV shows and other media.
The NHS describes melanoma as a form of skin cancer that can spread to other parts of the body, and advises people to be careful in the sun by using sunscreen. A new mole or a change in an existing mole may be signs of melanoma.
Image credit: Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Amazon’s Crown Channel
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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