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‘TikTok saved my life’: Social media star diagnosed with skin cancer after fans spot worrying mole

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A TikTok star says the app saved his life – after his fans spotted a worrying-looking mole on his back and urged him to get checked out.

Alex Griswold, 25, a software developer and creator from Florida, US, posted a video of his wife, Melinda Griswold, rubbing his shirtless back in 2019, and was messaged by two viewers who said two moles on his back looked cancerous.

He had never thought about going to see a dermatologist for a few large moles on his skin – but decided to err on the side of caution and visited a dermatologist.

Shockingly, it was confirmed the two moles were in fact skin cancer – with the doctor telling Alex whoever had alerted him had likely saved his life.

The star took to TikTok to update his followers on the situation, sharing that the app had “saved” his life.

After speaking about his previous video and how two viewers messaged him, he explains that he visited the dermatologist.

He explains the dermatologist told him that his mole “might be skin cancer” – and proceeded to have it removed.

After sending the mole to a lab, the results showed that the mole was in fact slowly turning into skin cancer.

Alex shows off the large wound on his back where he had the mole removed.

He says: “The doctor was like ‘whoever told you probably saved your life’ – so because of two kind strangers, I avoided skin cancer and this is the perfect reminder that the world is a wonderful place.”

The popular clip was viewed more than 5.8 million times and racked up 1.5 million likes from stunned followers.

“TikTok really out here saving lives,” one person commented.

Another viewer added: “Me now thinking all my freckles are skin cancer.”

“That's very heartwarming especially from a platform like this,” another person commented.

“After the video was posted, I also ended up having another mole removed in the same year,” Alex said.

“If that mole or the one that the video focuses on was never checked up on, I could’ve developed skin cancer and would have had no idea.”

Alex now has regular check-ups every six months to ensure that everything is as it should be, which he will have for the rest of his life.

He added: “My doctor says that since I’ve already shown signs of atypical moles in the past, that I’ll have to always be monitoring my skin.

“My health is great now. I only had to have a second mole removed after the video was posted, but I haven’t had any other issues since.

“I’m definitely much more conscious of wearing sunscreen and making sure that I’m not careless when spending lots of time in the sun.

“I know that the video has helped others. I’ll occasionally have people reach out to let me know that they have also had moles removed after watching the video.”

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