Cameron County officials urged men to get routine health screenings on Monday as part of Blue Tie Day.

The county has observed Blue Tie Day since 2017 in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of men’s health.

“They need to get tested and if they wait too long, it might be too late,” said Cameron County Health Administrator Esmeralda Guajardo. “And that's what we're trying to avoid."

Retired Harlingen police officer Gilbert Garcia was diagnosed with colon cancer back in 2005.

"When you're lying there and the doctor tells you that it's malignant, you think that you're gone,” Garcia said. “You think that you're not going to make it.”

Garcia encourages all men to get screened. He says it helped him find cancer early and beat it.