On Sunday, Mike Schmidt, the Philadelphia Phillies legend and Hall of Famer, announced that he is recovering from an advanced stage of skin cancer.

Schmidt was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma in August, and has since been undergoing rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. Schmidt said he has also underwent two surgeries since his diagnosis. After all of the treatment, Schmidt was proud to say that all of his current scans were clear. “I feel fantastic right now,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt explained that it was a random trip to the dermatologist that enabled doctors to catch the cancer early on. “I was doing a closing on a house and I had a thing on my hand,” Schmidt explained. “I just went in and said, ‘Can you look at this” and he said, ‘Why don’t I take a look at your whole body while you’re here. Obviously the moral of the story is, everybody, get your skin checked. I think at least once a month, now that I know what I know. I caught it early.”

Sadly, Schmidt was not able to serve as a guest instructor in the spring, due to his last round of chemo. He was making frequent trips from his home in Florida to his doctors in Massachusetts. However, Schmidt says he will be returning for his regular duties this year.

Schmidt said that this whole experience has been a major eye opener. He is more cautious about being in the sun, calling it “evil and scary.” The time spent at the hospital also led him to realize how lucky he was that he was able to catch his disease early on. “The older you get … you still carry some sort of invincibility,” Schmidt said, and later added, “the moral of the story is everybody get checked.”

Image via Wikimedia Commons