Alex Trebek paid tribute to a deceased cancer victim who won six games on Jeopardy!.
Jeopardy! contestant, Cindy Stowell, a 41 year old science content developer from Austin Texas, was suffering from stage four colon cancer when she recorded her appearances on the show mere months ago. She passed away in early December. Her winning streak came to an end on the Wednesday airing of the show, but Alex Trebek made sure that her memory will live beyond her final air date.
“This past six Jeopardy! programs, you folks have been getting to know the talented champion Cindy Stowell,” Trebek says in a video message. “Appearing on the show was a lifelong ambition for that lady — what you did not know is that when we taped these programs with her a few weeks ago, she was suffering from stage 4 cancer, and sadly, on December 5, Cindy Stowell passed away. So from all of us here at Jeopardy!, our sincere condolences to her family and her friends.”
Stowell knew that she was suffering from cancer and did not have long to live when she interviewed for the show. She donated all of her winnings from the streak to cancer research.
“I’m dying of cancer and I would really like the money that I win to be used to help others, and so this seems like a good opportunity,” said Stowell in an emotional video of her talking about her journey on Jeopardy!. “This has been an unreal experience.”