‘GMA’ Anchor Documents His First Colonoscopy on TV

DeMarco Morgan wants to redefine the role of routine health screening for men. On Feb. 5, the GMA3: What You Need to Know co-anchor, who celebrated his 45th birthday in November, took the show to document his first colonoscopy, aiming to inspire other men to take the time to get their health checked and get tested for colorectal cancer.

Taking inspiration from Katie Couric, who famously raised awareness of getting checked through a colonoscopy, Morgan discussed his decision to do it with two childhood friends on Today. “I think it was a responsibility of mine,” he told PEOPLE. “I wanted to do it, but I didn’t want to do it alone…We can do it as a group and save our lives and possibly save some others.”

To remove the stigma surrounding colonoscopies, Morgan recruited two of his childhood friends, Alfred Cayasso and Ronnie Stewart, to undergo the procedure as a group.

“Men, we go to the barbershop together, the bar together, sports games together, bachelor parties together, but we don’t go to the doctor together,” he explained. “When it comes to something that can save our life, everybody in the room is quiet. We don’t talk about it.”

“Whereas the ladies that I know — because I don’t want to generalize — they’re like, ‘Girl, we’re going to get a mammogram. Oh, I just had one.’ They do stuff together or they talk about issues together. We don’t. So why not do something differently?” he continued. “Think about the impact that we could have by people seeing three Black men not just going to get tested, but going to do it together.”

Moreover, Morgan noted that there is a higher incidence of colon and rectal cancer in African Americans, which motivated him to document his colonoscopy, especially after Chadwick Boseman‘s shocking death at 43 of colon cancer four years after a private battle with the disease.

The American Cancer Society reports that African Americans have about 20 percent higher colorectal cancer incidence rates than non-Hispanic whites and 50 percent higher rates than Asians. “The Black community, in my experience from growing up, a lot of times we talk about, ‘Oh, I was doing fine until I found out I had this.’ My dad didn’t go to the doctor. My mom had to force my dad to go to the doctor. And that was the story for my uncles,” Morgan shared.

“We have to get out of that. We’ve got to find a way to make it cool to go get checked up and make sure you are fine,” he continues, adding that his goal is just to encourage people to get checked. “When you look at the numbers and how it disproportionately affects us, it’s alarming. I think when people see people who look like them in powerful positions going to the doctor and saying, ‘It’s okay,’ they too will jump in line.”

Morgan confessed that he knows how impactful it can be to see three Black men on television getting their screenings done together, and he says that one of the most meaningful experiences that he has had was being able to say, “We got it done.”