Jeanette Lee, the famous billiards player who earned the nickname “The Black Widow,” is in a fight for her life.
Lee, 49, has been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer, she announced Wednesday. Her close friends started a GoFundMe page that revealed doctors said she had a few months to a year left to live
“I intend to bring the same resolve I brought to the billiards table to this fight,” Lee said in a statement, per the American Pool players Association. “Jim Valvano so eloquently told us to ‘Never give up’. I owe it to my three young daughters to do exactly that.”
Lee has already started chemotherapy and also has multiple surgeries ahead to try to slow the cancer. The GoFundMe established in her name intends to provide support for her three daughters: Cheyenne, 16, Chloe, 11, and Savannah, 10.
The Brooklyn native was the No. 1 female pool player in the world during the 1990s and won the gold medal at the 2001 World Games. She was the Women’s Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) Player of the Year in 1994 and the WPBA Sportsperson of the Year in 1998.
On a personal note: The image on the right is me and Janette back when she was 18 years old. I met Janette when she was only 16 years old at David Brenner’s billiard room Amsterdams in New York City. David had asked me to come met her as I was very influential at the time for the women’s pro tour. May God Bless this incredible woman. She will never give up any challenge that confronts her.