COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A man diagnosed with prostate cancer before the holidays in 2019 could not get an appointment when he tried to book scans in early 2020 due to COVID-19 shutdowns.

Troy Anthony Harris, 53, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in late 2019. As an African-American man, and a public servant, he says he wants other men to hear his story and get tested.

“I’m very much a public servant,” Harris said. “I want to let other Black men know what I’m going through because African-American men are 50 per cent more likely to get prostate cancer and die from it.”

After his biopsy late last year, Harris waited for the holidays to pass before he began booking his appointments. It was a rough time, including a transition in his own job which included being off work for a while. Harris has also has lost his own mother to cancer.

“I could not get an appointment for a full nine months,” Harris said.

Now his PSA levels have risen to a point where surgery is being recommended over radiation, and Harris is urging his fellow Black men to get tested after the age of 50.

Listen to the full interview in the video.