Grab the tissues.
On Monday evening’s episode of “Jeopardy!,” contestant Dhruv Gaur put his coronary heart on his display screen, writing “We (heart) you Alex!” as an alternative of a Final Jeopardy reply.
The gesture caught host Alex Trebek, who’s at the moment battling stage four pancreatic most cancers, abruptly. The 79-year-old’s voice caught, noting the contestant wager large on the candy notice.
“That’s very kind of you, thank you. It cost you $1,995. You’re left with $5,” he mentioned, his voice trembling. “OK.”
The emotional second got here throughout an episode of the annual Tournament of Champions.
Gaur, a Brown University school scholar majoring in economics and public well being, appeared stumped through the Final Jeopardy query. Instead of throwing out a solution, the 2018 College Champion determined to put in writing a sort message for the beloved TV host.
After the present aired on the East Coast, Gaur defined his notice additional.
“Sorry for west coast spoilers, but I’m really glad I got the opportunity to say to Alex what everybody at the tournament was thinking,” the faculty sophomore tweeted. “For context, Alex had just shared with us that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer. We were all hurting for him so badly.”
Gaur continued: “When Final Jeopardy came up, I could’ve tried to puzzle it together, but really, just kept thinking about Alex, and thought he should know. I’m just very grateful I got the opportunity to say what I know everyone was thinking. Sending all the love.”
Immediately after Monday evening’s episode aired, #WeLoveYouAlex began trending on Twitter.
“The guy knew he had no chance of winning the game so he wrote that… Aw. We need more people like that in the world. So darn sweet. #WeLoveYouAlex,” tweeted @waitng4thtdance.
”I actually hope Alex Trebek is aware of how a lot pleasure he has introduced into our properties for therefore a few years. #WeLoveyouAlex,” tweeted @amberlywaves.
”Watching Alex Trebek get choked up throughout Final Jeopardy when a contestant burned his reply to share a particular message, is greater than I can deal with tonight #WeLoveYouAlex,” shared @AminaBrattke.
Trebek first revealed his most cancers prognosis in March. In October, the TV host mentioned he was finishing his second spherical of chemotherapy.
“I will keep doing [the show] as long as my skills do not diminish. And they have started to diminish,” Trebek mentioned, noting a chemo aspect impact often makes him slur his phrases. “When I feel my skills have diminished to the point where I notice and am bothered by it because all the people around me are saying, ‘No, it’s OK!’ But there will come a point when they’re no longer able to say ‘It’s OK’ … We’ll play it by ear and keep chunking along until we either win or lose.”
He added: “The thought of the pancreatic cancer does not frighten me. I’m not afraid of dying. One thing they’re not going to say at my funeral as part of a eulogy: ‘He was taken from us too soon.’ I’m 79 years old. I have lived a good life, a full life and I’m nearing the end of that life. I know that. I’m not going to delude myself.”
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