Washington Post gaming reporter Gene Park revealed that he has been diagnosed with colon cancer

Gene Park, a gaming reporter for the Washington Post, disclosed his colon cancer diagnosis in a tweet on Tuesday. “I have cancer,” Park wrote, “I will fight it. The fight’s already begun. Thank you all for listening. I’m humbled by your concern and support.”

In addition, the former West Coast reporter sent a link to a YouTube video titled "A Cancerous Gene," in which Park discussed his diagnosis and mentioned that he had just had surgery and would soon begin chemotherapy. Park also discussed the links between COVID and his disease in the video. On January 24, he tweeted that he thought he had lengthy COVID.“It wasn’t long COVID that was giving me fatigue,” Park said in the video, “but the COVID certainly didn’t help. What we think is that it definitely helped the colon cancer speed and run and become bigger.”

The good news, as stated by Park, is that his colon cancer has not spread and that his liver, lungs, and spine are cancer-free. According to Park, the initial operation he had last week helped to rebuild the area. He also mentioned that he will begin chemotherapy in a week and a half. He added that the goal of the chemotherapy is to reduce the tumor before undergoing surgery to remove it by the end of the year.

Despite recommendations to start getting tested around 45, Park highlighted that being diagnosed at 40 is still quite early, albeit his diagnosis may be indicative of a trend where men are increasingly being diagnosed with colon cancer at younger ages. I've joined them, said Park. After giving this justification, Park went on to discuss how his illness has affected many aspects of his perception, including his difficulty with his perception of death.

“I’ve done so much work, so much work over the last several years to get away from that dark place,” Park noted. “I look at every day where I draw breath as a complete gift. And I definitely don’t want to lose that.”

The video games reporter, Park, claimed that writing about and playing video games allow him to help and keep a feeling of normalcy, despite the fact that he is now on medical leave from The Washington Post. Park expressed his gratitude for his followers and supporters before promising to be there for them as well.

We also hope he recovers quickly.