Jeopardy! winner reveals ‘evil’ health issue before tournament that led him to ‘nearly call it off’

Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament winner Luigi de Guzman revealed that he suffered a ‘really evil’ health issue that almost forced him to throw in the towel ahead of his big game

After his remarkable Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament win, contestant Luigi de Guzman opened up about a “really evil” health issue that nearly forced him to “call it off.”

On Monday, Feb. 24, three contestants tested their trivia knowledge as they faced off for the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament quarterfinal game 6. The three players to take the stage included Luigi de Guzman, an attorney from Arlington, Virginia, Amy Schneider, a writer from Oakland, California, and Avi Gupta, a law student originally from Portland, Oregon.

During the tight match, the players were tested in a number of challenging categories from ‘Quotable 21st Century Films’ to ‘Some Art, Some Science.’ But by the end of the game, Luigi emerged victorious and took to social media to reflect on his gameplay and shared his troubling sight issues that almost made him throw in the towel.

On a newly posted Reddit thread, he shared: “I very nearly didn’t post for this tournament. When I first got the call to come back for the JIT, I scheduled a regular eye exam. Good thing I did: the exam showed swelling & fresh bleeding on the retina of my right eye. Vision out of that eye is now distorted, with a blind spot more or less it the top-center of my field of view.”

Jeopardy! player Luigi de Guzman suffered vision issues ahead of the tournament (
Image:
Jeopardy!)
He contineud: I have a very hard time reading long/complex texts–but as it happened Jeopardy is just about doable (more on this in a second). Treatment means a series of injections into my eyeball–and the first one was less than a week before JIT taping. My eye was just pure red, really evil. I informed the show and nearly called it off. Fortunately, I was able to rest and recover just well enough to make it. (This is your reminder to get yourself checked out so that you can detect things like this early and have a chance to heal and recover.)”

After his health update, one fan took to the comments and replied: “My mom gets injections in her eye currently for macular degeneration, and I recently saw her for the first time post-injections at my wedding. It was a sight! Luckily, the injections helped her a lot and I hope they help you, too.”

Many users shared sweet congratulatory posts for Luigi after his impressive game. One fan said: “That’s one heck of a panel. Congrats to Luigi for the win.” Another added: “Big congrats to one of my big bros Luigi. And congratulations to Amy and Avi for great games themselves. So great to see you all back out there.” And a third chimed in: “We all know Amy is one of the best to ever play the game, and I’m so excited Luigi is getting his well-deserved accolades after this amazing win. Knowing Luigi, I am extremely impressed, but not at all surprised, at this outcome.”

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