(NEW YORK) — Jeopardy! contestant Cindy Stowell lost her battle with stage IV colon cancer on December 5 — just one week before her episodes aired. Wednesday night, the show posted a tribute to her on Twitter.
A video — which is captioned “Jeopardy! contestant Cindy Stowell passed away prior to her shows’ airings. Here is her Jeopardy! story, in her own words” — shows clips of Stowell during auditions, and also revealing that she, in her words, is “dying of cancer.”
Jeopardy! contestant Cindy Stowell passed away prior to her shows’ airings. Here is her Jeopardy! story, in her own words. pic.twitter.com/MYFzJfxpAJ
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) December 22, 2016
Stowell also shared what she intended to do with her winnings: “I wanted to donate the money to cancer research, partly because…I’m dying of cancer, and I really would like the money I win to be used to help others, and this seems like a good opportunity” she revealed.
Stowell, who said she’d been a fan of Jeopardy! since she was nine, won a total of $103,801 during her time on the show.
In addition, the show’s official website posted a tribute to Stowell, two days after her death, noting that only a select group of Jeopardy! staffers and host Alex Trebek knew she was ill. Her opponents were unaware of her condition.
In a message posted on Wednesday, Jeopardy! executive producer Harry Friedman wrote, “Cindy came on the show with a mission. We gave her the opportunity to fulfill that mission and she made the most of it.”
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