Baltimore Orioles star Trey Mancini wants to raise awareness and help people get tested for colon cancer after he was diagnosed with the disease last year.
The 29-year-old athlete revealed his cancer diagnosis in April 2020 in a personal essay titled "I Am So Lucky" for the Players' Tribune. He said that doctors discovered he had a tumor after some of his blood test results came back low during a physical for the Orioles.
"I'm extremely, extremely fortunate to be a Major League Baseball player and have the medical care I do," he said on NBC's "TODAY" show. "So I really do feel like I have a lot of work to do as far as spreading awareness and getting some tests in the hands of people that might not be as fortunate as myself."
Mancini's father is a colon cancer survivor, but the outfielder said that he thought the disease mostly affected people 50 and over. Mancini was 27 when he was diagnosed.
The baseball player had a successful surgery and received treatment at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He said one of the toughest parts was that his girlfriend was not allowed to attend his chemotherapy appointments because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"But she took plenty enough care of me at home," he said.
Throughout his treatment, Mancini's teammates kept in touch with him. He said their support was "incredible" and he talked to at least one teammate every day.
He also received an outpouring of support from fans, including Mossila Kingsley Gaba, a teenage superfan of the Orioles. Gaba, who had battled cancer since he was an infant, died in July.
"His entire life he was in the hospital going through chemotherapy treatments. And he never ever had a bad attitude, and I try to emulate how he was every single day. He really inspired me," Mancini said.
The athlete finished chemotherapy in November and has since been declared cancer free. He returned to the field last month.
"I was thinking, 'Don't cry,' the whole time," Mancini said about hitting the diamond again last month with his teammates. "I was really emotional."
