John Cena has opened up about his journey with cancer and has urged people to be more aware of symptoms.
The WWE star has branded himself as the new ‘mouthpiece to get people to use sunscreen’ after opening up about his skin cancer journey.
Cena first spoke publicly about his diagnosis earlier this year, after admitting that he ‘never’ wore any protection on his skin while growing up.
The 48-year-old was raised in the state of Massachusetts, but moved to Florida as an adult, where he continued to ‘neglect’ his skin.
But after learning his lesson the hard way, he is now urging his loyal fans, and anyone else who will listen, of the dangers.
In a new interview with People, Cena noted that his mom’s primary concern when raising him and his four brothers, was keeping them ‘alive and healthy.’
He said: “And me being born in ’77, this [the importance of sunscreen] was kind of all new knowledge.”
Cena admitted that he ‘fell in love with the sun’ upon moving to Florida – which is aptly known as the ‘Sunshine State.’
The star noted that he was ‘too stubborn’ to spend time in his day dedicated to putting on sunscreen, which ultimately led to him receiving the diagnosis.
“I also thought the problem would never reach me,” he confessed.
“It’s one of those things where I had a ton of exposure with minimal protection and it caught up with me.”
After a skin checkup with a dermatologist, Cena was informed that he had a ‘cancerous spot’ on his right pec, which he later had surgically removed.
And he had another removed the following year.
The star said: “I was very lucky to have a great dermatologist who kind of, I guess for lack of a better term, held me by the hand and let me know that I wasn’t alone.
“The stats on this are overwhelming, but as much as I learn about them, those numbers don’t mean anything.
“I think the best way to hammer home a point is human-to-human connection.
“And I as a human can tell you: Man, that phone call’s not what you want to get because it is unpredictable and you don’t know how bad it’s going to be.”
Thankfully, his treatment was a success, and the actor is now urging people to learn from his mistakes.
“I’m at a great space in my life where [skincare] is now important to me,” he added.
“And I’m so grateful to be able to dodge those two bullets, but I wear [the scars] as a reminder of, ‘Hey man, you need to take the extra few seconds to protect yourself every day.’”
