'Shark Tank' Star Daymond John Says Cancer 'Redefined' His Life: 'I'm Not a Superhero' (Exclusive)
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"I don't know if I'd be here or be in the condition I'm at if they didn't find that six years ago in my body," John said of his 2017 diagnosis of stage 2 thyroid cancer
Daymond John is opening up about how his cancer diagnosis "redefined" his life.
The Shark Tank star, 54, discussed with PEOPLE his outlook on health at the Taste For a Cure event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Friday.
"I would look at that, and it would redefine that I'm not... I'm a human, I'm not a superhero," John said of overcoming his 2017 diagnosis of stage 2 thyroid cancer.
"Then three years after that, COVID would show us that we're not [super] human, " he continued. "At that time my daughter was one, my newest daughter in my life, made me want to change a lot of the things that I wouldn't say I was neglecting, but I needed to be more aggressive about the personal aspects of my life or as aggressive as I was about business."
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Related:Shark Tank's Daymond John Reveals Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis
At the time, John told PEOPLE that his diagnosis came after he decided to be more proactive about his health and went for an executive physical — a more extensive physical than what many people get annually — during which a doctor found a 1-inch nodule on his thyroid and had it biopsied.
On Friday, the CEO of the FUBU Corporation was honored with the Gil Nickel Humanitarian Award at the Taste of the Cure, hosted by UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) to fundraise for leading-edge cancer research. He explained to PEOPLE the impact the center had on him.
"What's close to my heart is UCLA because I never heard of an executive physical before out of all my years of going and getting physicals," the Shark Tank investor shared. "The doctor did what I think now, knowing now, is very minimal. Grab something on you and tells you to cough up and tells you to go about your business."
"Then I went to UCLA and I got an executive physical and they were checking my carotid veins, to see if everything's good," he continued. "They found a little nodule on my thyroid that because of how great they are and what they do. And I went and got surgery for stage three cancer, the size of a golf ball in my throat, and potentially move into my lymph nodes, but thank God it's the slowest growing cancer."
"I don't know if I'd be here or be in the condition I'm at if they didn't find that six years ago in my body," John added.
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