Ryan Reynolds undergoes 'life saving' colonoscopy, films procedure for cancer awareness

Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds recently underwent colonoscopy and learned he had a polyp on his colon. The actor updated fans about the same with a video on social media which documented his colonoscopy with friend and actor Rob McElhenney. The motive behind the video by the stars was to raise awareness regarding the Cancer screening procedure. 

Both the actors, Rob and Ryan, who famously became co-chairmen of Welsh football team Wrexham FC in 2021, shared details of their diagnoses - and how polyps can develop into cancer if left untreated - through the awareness organisation Lead From Behind.

Ryan Reynolds films his colonoscopy procedure

In the video shared by the two stars on social media, the father of three children, Reynolds, joked how he agreed to publicly broadcast the procedure if Rob learned Welsh. He told viewers: "It's a simple step that could literally, and I mean literally, save your life."

Following the lengthy 30-minute long rectal exam, Reynolds was told by his doctor about an "extremely subtle polyp" which was found in his body.  The video then shows Reynolds arriving at the hospital.

"I would never normally have any medical procedure put on camera and then shared," he says. "It's not every day that you can raise awareness about something that will most definitely save lives. That's enough motivation for me to let you in on a camera being shoved up my a**."

In the video, the doctor can be seen telling the 35-year-old star, "This was potentially life-saving for you, I'm not kidding, I'm not being overly dramatic. This is exactly why you do this. You had no symptoms."

The video then gets panned toward Rob, who also underwent the same procedure. "They either find nothing, and that means my colon is cleaner than his, or they find a polyp and it's either bigger than his... or it's smaller than his which means I have less of an opportunity to have cancer," he says. "Either way I win."

Doctors discovered three polyps in McElhenney's colon, which were also removed.

IMAGE: Instagram/vancityreynolds