Twitch star Ninja confirms cancer diagnosis to fans

The Twitch community has been left in shock after learning that Twitch star, Ninja, has been diagnosed with melanoma.

Ninja, whose real name is Tyler Blevins, shared the news candidly on their Twitter account on 26 March. In the post, Blevins says that they’re still “in a bit of shock” but wanted to keep all their fans up to date; with over 19 million followers on Twitch, Ninja’s life is microscopically under the lens.

Over the course of the post, Blevins reveals that they’d spotted a mole on the sole of his foot. Having already been booked in for a dermatologist appointment thanks to their wife, Jessica, Blevins pointed out the mole; to be on the safe side, the dermatologists removed it.

As anyone who’s visited a dermatologist for similar matters will know, it's quite routine to remove moles to send them off just to check that it isn’t anything untoward. That cautious approach led to Blevins learning that the mole was actually melanoma. According to the steamer, “they [the dermatologists] are optimistic that we caught it in the early stages.”

They continued, “I had another dark spot appear near it, so today they biopsied that and removed a larger area around the melanoma with the hopes that under the microscope they will see clear non-melanoma edges and we will know we got it. I’m grateful to have hope in finding this early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups.”

Naturally, an outpouring of support followed, with fans and fellow streamers alike wishing Blevins all the best during this tense time. “Hoping for the best. Lots of love to Jess for being proactive as well,” replied Twitch star SypherPK. Another post, this time from Jake Lucky read, “Glad you caught it early man, hoping for the best.”