Selden resident Sandy Kyrkostas is living with colon cancer and stresses the importance of getting regular colonoscopy screenings.

He was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at 47 years old.

The cancer quickly spread from his colon to his liver, bladder and stomach. He was originally told by doctors that he only had months to live. That was seven years ago.

Now, Kyrkostas still has colon cancer and undergoes regular chemotherapy treatments every two weeks.

He told News 12, "I feel like things happen for a reason, and maybe I'm here to help people and spread the word, get screened earlier, and I'm glad everybody's realizing that we should screen earlier."

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recently lowered the recommended age for getting a colonoscopy from 50 years old to 45 years old.

Colorectal cancer screenings for people ages 45 to 75 will be covered by most insurance plans.