Ryan Reynolds helps raise awareness for colon cancer prevention

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney want to bring awareness to colon cancer, the second biggest cancer killer in America. The best way to prevent colon cancer is by getting a colonoscopy when you turn 45, so the 45-year-old actors partnered with Lead From Behind and went candid as ever, filming their first colonoscopy.

© Ryan Reynolds

In a less than the 7-minute video posted on his YouTube page, Reynolds’ colonoscopy experience was documented. “I would never normally have any medical procedure put on camera and then shared,“ he said.

Colon cancer is predicted to be the top cancer killer for people under 50 by 2030. “It’s not every day that you can raise awareness about something that will most definitely save lives,” Reynolds said. “That’s enough motivation for me to let you in on a camera being shoved up me a**.”

Twenty-five minutes later, Reynolds came to, asking for a graham cracker. His doctor told him he found an, “extremely subtle” polyp, which was removed, on the right side of his colon. “This was potentially life-saving for you. I’m not being over dramatic,” he continued. “This is exactly why you do this.”

© RYAN REYNOLDS

McElhenney when into his colonoscopy with a competitive spirit. “I figure I can’t go wrong in terms of comparing myself to Ryan. They either find nothing, and that means my colon was cleaner than his, or they find a polyp, and it’s either bigger than his -which is awesome - or it’s smaller than his, which means I have less than an opportunity to have cancer- either way I win,” he said.

They ended up finding 3 small polyps on McElhenney, and he was advised to keep screening every couple of years to ensure nothing else comes up.