Cindy Stowell from Austin TX had made it her goal to compete on Jeopardy. Even while suffering from Stage 4 colon cancer, she competed for seven days straight. While Cindy won the chance to audition in the summer and taped episodes in early fall, none of her seven appearances aired until after she had passed away on December 5, 2016. Host Alex Trebek and a few Jeopardy staff members knew of her illness, but it was not announced during any of the tapings.
During her run, she amassed winnings of $103, 803 all of which will be donated to cancer research. Colon and rectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The number of deaths was 15.1 per 100,000 men and women per year based on 2009-2013 deaths. While Cindy was young, the incidence of colon cancer is highest among people aged 75-84. Cindy's boyfriend Jason Hess describer her as "the best friend, partner and pub trivia teammate a guy could ask for." All of the money won by Cindy will be donated to research into immunotherapy for colon cancer.