DeMarco Morganis changing the narrative when it comes to men’s routine health screenings.
After celebrating his 45th birthday in November, theGMA3: What You Need to Knowco-anchor is documenting his first colonoscopy on the show, hoping to encourage other men to prioritize their health and get tested for colorectal cancer.
“I think it was a responsibility of mine,” he tells PEOPLE. “I wanted to do it, but I didn’t want to do it alone…We can do it as a group and save our lives and possibly save some others.”
DeMarco Morgan before his colonoscopy.ABC News/Brandon Lopez
ABC News/Brandon Lopez
Morgan called two of his childhood friends, Alfred Cayasso and Ronnie Stewart, to join him and get their colonoscopies done as a group. He’s hoping to remove the stigma surrounding it and normalize health discussions among men, just as common as “locker room talk.”
“Men, we go to the barbershop together, the bar together, sports games together, bachelor parties together, but we don’t go to the doctor together,” he explains. “When it comes to something that can save our life, everybody in the room is quiet. We don’t talk about it.”
GMA3’s DeMarco Morgan with his childhood friends Alfred Cayasso and Ronnie Stewart.ABC News/Brandon Lopez
“We literally had each other,” he says. “We were all at some point nervous but the support that we were able to give each other along the way, it helped.”
“Also, a lot of times people think it is a painful procedure. And I think for some reason that message isn’t loud and clear that it’s not a painful procedure,” the star notes. “You feel nothing before, during, or after.”
Morgan adds that another reason that motivated him to document his colonoscopy was that there is a higher colon cancer and rectal cancer incident rate among African Americans, specifically noting the shocking loss ofChadwick Boseman, who died at 43 after a private four-year battle with the disease.
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer incidence rates in African Americans were about 20 percent higher than those in non-Hispanic whites and 50 percent higher than those in Asians.
DeMarco Morgan with his doctors before his colonoscopy.ABC News/Brandon Lopez
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“The Black community, in my experience from growing up, a lot of times we talk about, ‘Oh, I was doing fine until I found out I had this.’ My dad didn’t go to the doctor. My mom had to force my dad to go to the doctor. And that was the story for my uncles,” Morgan shares.
“We have to get out of that. We’ve got to find a way to make it cool to go get checked up and make sure you are fine,” he continues, adding that his goal is just to encourage people to get checked. “When you look at the numbers and how it disproportionately affects us, it’s alarming. I think when people see people who look like them in powerful positions going to the doctor and saying, ‘It’s okay,’ they too will jump in line.”
Part 1 of Morgan’s colonoscopy journey airs today. GMA3: What You Need to Knowairs weekdays on ABC at 1pm ET/12pm CT/PT.
source: people.com
