Survivor star Ken McNickle has revealed that he is battling cancer.
The 43-year-old reality star rose to fame when he competed on US Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, and came in second place.
He shared his tragic diagnosis on Instagram, revealing that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and wished he had taken care of himself “better and sooner.”
He told his followers: “As I’ve said before, if you have a health concern, don’t sit on it. Get yourself checked. There’s no valid reason not to. Not one.”
While he did not disclose which type of cancer he was battling, he did share some of the symptoms he had been suffering from before he was diagnosed.
“I’ve made some mistakes in the process and should have taken care of myself better and sooner.
“Then the flood of questions. Why now? What did I do to deserve this? Why didn’t I come in sooner? After everything else, now this?”
“There’s always a choice. And I’m choosing optimism, health, happiness and the knowing that the spirit has me. And most importantly I’m choosing love.”
He added in a later post: “I waited almost a year until my skin was tearing open to get this checked. Had I gone in sooner, it would have been a simple procedure,” McNickle explained. “Not a three-inch hole in my chest.”
The reality star’s followers rushed to share their support from the star, with Adam Klein, who won the season of Survivor that McNickle competed on, saying: “I’m deeply sorry Ken that you have to go through this. You are a strong, resilient person and cancer f**ked with the wrong guy. You got this. Sending healing energy.”
Another supporter wrote: “You got this! There is always something beautiful. Behind every difficult situation.”
The reality star revealed that doctors told him the problem could have been far easier to treat had he sought help sooner instead of delaying.
He shared that he had seen blood in his stool for months, but still delayed having a growing lump checked by a medical professional.
McNickle said his reluctance to seek treatment had been shaped by attitudes towards toughness and masculinity he had grown up with.
“There’s an epidemic in regards to men’s health and we’re not giving it enough attention,” he said.
“We need to be talking more about why men are 50 per cent less likely to go to a doctor for physical ailments and 60 per cent less likely to get help with mental and emotional issues.
“Why do you think it is? What’s [sic] needs to change?”