‘Black Widow’ Jeanette Lee ‘has cancer and only a few months to live’; friends start fundraising campaign for pool icon’s three daughters
- A GoFundMe campaign is hoping to raise money for the American’s three girls – aged 16, 11 and 10 – but the 49-year-old vows to fight the disease.
- Lee, who has stage-4 ovarian cancer, was a hugely popular personality on television in the 1990s and 2000s with her trick shots and world-class pool skills
Friends of cancer-stricken American billiards legend Jeanette Lee, also known as “Black Widow”, have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her three daughters.
The 49-year-old single mother of three girls, aged 16, 11 and 10, has vowed to fight the disease, with doctors saying she has only a few months to live owing to stage-4 ovarian cancer.
“The cancer has fully metastasised into her lymph nodes and the prognosis is dire,” said a post on the GoFundMe page. “At this stage, her doctors say she has a few months to a year left to live. In typical Black Widow fashion, she has vowed to fight the progress of her disease as fiercely as possible with both chemotherapy, which has already begun, and a succession of upcoming surgeries.
“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.”
Lee, 49, was a huge star in the 1990s and early 2000s when she appeared regularly on television performing trick shots with other well-known pool and billiards players.
A former women’s No 1, Brooklyn-born Lee was WPBA sportsperson of the year in 1998 and is a three-time world nine-ball runner-up, while winning a gold medal for the US at the World Games in Akita, Japan in 2001. She became a Billiards Congress Hall of Famer in 2013.
“I intend to bring the same resolve I brought to the billiards table to this fight,” Lee said in a statement, citing former college basketball coach Jim Valvano, who died of cancer in 1993. “Jim Valvano so eloquently told us to ‘Never give up’. I owe it to my three young daughters to do exactly that.
The GoFundMe campaign, started by her close friends and business associates, aims to create a Jeanette Lee Legacy Fund to ensure her daughters are cared for and are able to attend college.
“Those of us who are closest to her know that the last 10 years or so has not been kind to Jeanette,” the post continued. “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.
“Jeanette has now endured the misery and incredible personal expense of 19 different surgeries battling scoliosis, including unsuccessful surgery last spring designed to help reduce her constant battle with pain.”
The campaign has gained the support of billiards organisations such as APA, Billiards Digest and Octgaon, among others.
Matchroom Pool, headed by World Snooker chief Barry Hearn, offered their support to Lee. In a Twitter post, they said: “The thoughts of everybody at Matchroom Pool are with BCA Hall of Famer and former Mosconi Cup player Jeanette Lee and her family following the devastating news that she has been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer.”
