If you can name just one billiards player, it’s probably Jeanette Lee, who is known as the Black Widow. She recently learned she has Stage 4 ovarian cancer.
Jeanette Lee, better known as the Black Widow, spent years dominating pool tables despite degenerative, debilitating pain and became a top-ranked women’s billiards champion.
She learned she had scoliosis as a teenager and has undergone numerous procedures for the condition.
Every vertebra from her skull to her tailbone is fused.
“I don’t know why I felt like there was a race, but I always felt like there was and every minute I was playing pool, I was gaining on the people above me, and every time I was sidelined, I was just losing that edge,” Lee said.
In that chase, Lee, 49, became accustomed to brushing aside discomfort, which was as much a part of her life as her nose.