HGTV's Tarek El Moussa meets fan who spotted cancer
Tarek El Moussa has the best fan ever: Ryan, a "Flip or Flop" viewer, saved his life.
Thanks to Ryan, El Moussa learned that he had thyroid cancer; he is now in remission two years after his diagnosis, reports People. Ryan, a registered nurse, was watching "Flip or Flop" when she noticed that El Moussa had a lump in his throat. She e-mailed producers to advise that he get a biopsy.
Ryan and El Moussa met for the first time on "The Doctors." El Moussa said, "We got the email and I had a bad feeling about it, and just made the first doctor's appointment we could."
It turned out that El Moussa not only had thyroid cancer, but it had also spread to his lymph nodes.
"If it wasn't for TV or her noticing this huge lump on my neck, I would still be moving forward with my life with cancer in my body and never doing anything about it," said the TV personality.
Ryan said she made her discovery while binge-watching the show.
"You get that gut feeling," she said. "Halfway through an episode during a marathon, I saw it. And I stopped the TV, rewound it, watched it again." She said she was initially hesitant to send an e-mail because she didn't want to seem like a crazy fan. We bet El Moussa is glad Ryan didn't keep quiet.
