Via Wikimedia Creative Commons by U.S. Navy
Legendary pool player Jeanette Lee announced this week she is fighting terminal stage 4 ovarian cancer.
If you’re like me and flip through channels late at night, you may recall seeing the tall slender athlete competing on ESPN and other sports channels.
According to People Magazine, Lee topped the professional women’s pool rankings in the 90s and competed for some 30 years.
Known as The Black Widow for her long slinky black dresses, she is described by Deadspin as at one time the most famous pool player in the world . She holds some 30 championships.
“I intend to bring the same resolve I brought to the billiards table to this fight,” she said in a release.
“Jim Valvano (legendary college basketball coach) so eloquently told us to ‘Never give up.’ I owe it to my three young daughters to do exactly that.”
A Go Fund Me page set up by friends has raised nearly $100,000 dollars in two days out of its $250,000 goal.
“Jeanette’s largest and most pressing concern is the well being of her three young girls Cheyenne (16), Chloe (11) and Savannah (10). Jeanette has been a single mother for the last several years. The future care, well-being and education of her girls is the biggest cause of anxiety for her,” the Go Fund Me page reads.
The statement indicates doctors are giving Lee a few months to a year to live.
“The scoliosis that has plagued Jeanette since childhood has continued to progress. In fact, it has been suggested that the scoliosis masked the pain from the cancer in part allowing it to progress undetected for so long. The increasing effects of scoliosis has not allowed her to play at the highest level for years now and has limited her ability to make a living.”
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