A Bronx author published a book about his battle with cancer to encourage others the importance of frequent doctor checkups.

Russel Smith was diagnosed with stage-two prostate cancer in 2016. He says he didn’t notice any symptoms and only found out about it when his urologist suggested he take a prostate-specific antigen test.

After his 9-month long battle, he was declared cancer free in February 2017 and published a book that documented his experience.

“My contribution to this cancer is to write a book, put all the information in the book so other men can read it and learn from it,” says Smith.

Smith says he hopes he can make a difference in the lives of others by educating people who may be going through the same battle with cancer and not even know it.