NAPERVILLE, Ill. – “Jeopardy!” champ James Holzhauer reportedly made a donation in honor of legendary host Alex Trebek, who is battling stage 4 cancer.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the contestant gave money to a woman from Naperville, Illinois, Ann Zediker, who is hosting a walk to raise money to fight pancreatic cancer.
Zediker told the Chicago Tribune she became a huge fan of Holzhauer’s after she saw a very special moment on “Jeopardy!” when Trebek thanked Holzhauer’s daughter for making a card for him.”I want to express my thanks to your beautiful little daughter, Natasha, for having made this get well card for me. That was very sweet of her,” Trebek said.
So, Zediker decided to reach out to Holzhauer and see if he might be able to take part in the 2019 Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk on July 14.
Holzhauer reportedly got back to her and said, unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to make the walk, but he would make a donation.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Holzhauer gave $1,109.14 and said it was for “Alex Trebek and all the other survivors.”
The amount, according to the Chicago Tribune, is the numbers that correspond to the birthday of Holzhauer’s daughter, Natasha.
Holzhauer won $2,462,216 during his time on the show, leaving him a little more than $58,000 shy of the record for earnings set by Ken Jennings in 2004.
At the end of May, Trebek, 78, announced his doctors told him he was in “near remission.”
