Will Smith Diagnosed With Life Threatening Disease: Fact Check

Story:

Will Smith Diagnosed with Life Threatening Disease and Rushed to Hospital

Fact Check:

Some messages/videos in circulation online claim Will Smith was Diagnosed with a Life Threatening Disease and Rushed to Hospital. They became popular as the actor in fact went through his first Colonoscopy after turning 50. Nonetheless, the claims are not true and explained here.

Origin of Story: Will Smith Diagnosed With Life Threatening Disease

On 13th November 2019, YouTube channel Star News published a video about Will Smith with same title mentioning – Prayers Up!

The video shows some glimpses of the actor lying on a hospital bed along with some other photographs of Will Smith. Accompanying voice-over audio in fact reads out an article published on Amo Mama website news.amomama.com on 12th November 2019. The article carried a title “Will Smith’s Doctor Removes Pre-Cancerous Polyp during His First Colonoscopy since Turning 50“. However, it does not mention Will Smith was diagnosed with life threatening disease as such or that he was rushed to hospital.

Image of Will Smith and his Physician before his first Colonoscopy — Will Smith and his Physician before his first Colonoscopy

First Colonoscopy of Actor Will Smith

In August 2019, Will Smith underwent his first Colonoscopy a month before he turned 51. It’s a routine procedure recommended in U.S. for adults at age 50 to begin screening for colorectal cancer. On 6th November 2019, the actor put up a 17-minute long Vlog on his YouTube channel showing some glimpses from the procedure and the results.

At first Will Smith thought of Vlogging the medical procedure and share it as a fun-filled video for fans. However, the actor was later shocked to hear about a Pre-Cancerous polyp from his Physician Dr. Ala Stanford. He had a Tubular Adenoma that carried precancerous tissues, the same kind of tissues that result in colon cancer 95% of the time. Doctors removed the precancerous polyp from his colon. Smith’s physician, Dr. Ala Stanford informs he should now plan on more frequent colonoscopies in the next 2-3 years instead of every 10 years.

Image of Will Smith talking to his Physician after his Colonoscopy and treatment — Will Smith talking to his Physician after his Colonoscopy and treatment

Will Smith thanked his Physician for convincing him for the examination and also for the treatment. Later he mentioned his experience would educate others in being healthy and cautious. The doctor mentions screening and early detection of cancer saves lives.

So, the messages and videos claiming Will Smith was diagnosed with life threatening disease and rushed to hospital are not true. The actor went through his first Colonoscopy as part of regular check up and doctors removed a precancerous polyp from his colon.