Sam Riegel (Sofia the First, Redline), most well known for his voice acting in Critical Role as Fresh Cut Grass, has announced that he is recovering from cancer. A video was posted by the Critical Role YouTube channel, titled “It’s Been A While,” in which Riegel said he was recovering from oropharyngeal carcinoma, a type of cancer that disrupts the tongue, tonsils and soft palate. 

Riegel divulged that he had undergone surgery in which they took a part of his tongue and removed his tonsils, along with a part of his soft palate. Because of the surgeries, Riegel now has a 7-inch scar on his throat. Riegel also revealed how he had undergone radiation treatment for six weeks. 

In the video, Riegel said that fans might observe that his speech “is a bit slurry” as he continues to recover. After his treatment, Riegel had to relearn how to swallow and talk. 

A big reason why Riegel shared the video about his diagnosis was to bring attention to the HPV vaccine, which was created in the early 2000s and since then has been routinely given to pre-teens. 

HPV, or Human papillomavirus, can lead to various types of cancer. The virus could cause oropharyngeal carcinoma in men and cervical cancer in women. 

Since the HPV vaccine is relatively new, most adults have not received a dose, regardless of its effectiveness. Riegel also urges the public to listen to their bodies as he first knew something was amiss when he could no longer taste sweetness and when oatmeal “tasted funny” to him.

Riegel has taken a step back from Critical Role for several months after the *spoiler alert* death of his in-world character, Fresh Cut Grass, who sacrificed himself to kill a longtime enemy, Otohan Thull, in this campaign. In the most recent episode, Reigel returns as a new character, Braius Doomseed, a bard/paladin loyal to the evil god Asmodeus. 

Along with his voice acting in Critical Role, where he played Scanlan Shorthalt in season one and Veth in season two, Riegel reprised his role as Scanlan Shorthalt for the animated adaptation of Critical Role, The Legend of Vox Machina for its first season. 

Reigel is also an acclaimed director and voice actor with numerous TV credits, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Candela Obscura.