Luke Perry’s untimely passing last spring is still hard to believe.

Having to say goodbye is hard because when Luke died he was loved by so many and only 52 years old. Sadly, before his stroke, it looks as if Luke Perry had previous health scares prior to his stroke that took his life.

The Australian media outlet reports Luke fought against “bad back problems” prior to his stroke that resulted in the need for surgery.

The growths (which were removed) were found during a colonoscopy that ended up saving his life.

“Right now, there are 23 million Americans who haven’t been screened who need to be screened,” Luke Perry confessed about his cancer scare to Fox News. “If I had waited, it could have been a whole different scenario. When I heard that this was the most detectable cancer that we know of yet it’s the second most lethal, I just couldn’t figure out why that was and I wanted to get out there and tell people about it.”

Fox News says that the actor teamed up with Fight Colorectal Cancer after his childhood friend’s wife was diagnosed with stage three cancer.

https://www.facebook.com/cancernynj/videos/10158421832335604/

Although many fans of his work likely didn’t know him in real life, hearing stories from so many who did — including former 90210 and Riverdale costars who paid tribute — all reiterate what we knew in our hearts: Luke Perry was a sweet soul with a big heart who did what he could to leave his mark on this Earth.

… and we will forever hold a special place for him in our hearts.