Twitch’s top gamer, Ninja diagnosed with skin cancer

By Taiwo Okanlawon

Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, top gamer on a popular live streaming service, Twitch, has been diagnosed with melanoma, a dangerous type of skin cancer.

Ninja in an emotional announcement  via X, said Jessica, his wife, scheduled his annual skin check-up, where a mole on his foot was flagged for further examination.

The 32-year-old said the mole was later confirmed to be melanoma, adding that he underwent additional procedures to ensure complete removal.

He also urged his fans to prioritise regular skin cancer screenings.

“Alright I am still in a bit of shock but want to keep you all updated. A few weeks ago I went in to a dermatologist for an annual skin/mole check that Jess proactively scheduled for me,” he wrote.

“There was a mole on the bottom of my foot that they wanted to remove just to be careful. It came back as melanoma, but they are optimistic that we caught it in the early stages.

“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 am grateful to have hope in finding this early, but please take this as a PSA to get skin checkups.”

Ninja, who began streaming in 2011, rose to superstardom with the explosion of Fortnite in late 2017.

His streams, which often feature celebrity guests like Drake and Travis Scott, have drawn record viewership on Twitch.

Ninja’s channel is currently the most followed person on Twitch with over 18 million followers. He has nearly 24 million YouTube followers.