By Jeff Probst
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#22459
A year and a half ago, a new player to Stranded entered into the game and into our lives. We had so much in common, similar background, age, communities. An old school suckster, an AIM mini gamer from the early 2000s, he knew as many people as I do online. He fit right in with our sarcasm and dark sense of humor. He played in the largest Stranded season ever with 10 veterans and 18 new players. He ran the game with ease against some of our best players. Players that are also in this season. Beyond the game, he was an integral part of our community. He became very close friends with my wife, who played in the season before his. We only knew him a brief time but it felt like we knew him forever.

Lucy, aka WhoreofHorror / Jayk Valentine, passed away in August, almost a year to the day after his win in Stranded. The community hasn't been the same since. He's taught me so much about how much you can truly go through and still Survive. Struggles I have never dreamed of and hopefully will never face. Lucy was a big reason why the Stranded community became so close. He had absolutely no boundaries between real life and ORGs. That's something I admire, as I don't have the balls to be open about ORGs in my real life. He taught us to be proud of what we did, to open ourselves up to new friendships. I came from the old school where we concealed our identities, didn't doxx or voice chat. Now that line has blurred and I've made some great friends out of this. I was able to help Lucy through tough times and he helped me learn about myself.

After Lucy passed, we had written off a winners season. We already had the ultimate winner, and he could no longer be apart of the season. It wouldn't feel right. I put off any hopes for a winners season entirely. And then something crazy happened... The world was put on pause. Winners came to me asking to play again and I decided to put out some feelers. Every winner I asked with the exception of 1 said yes. I firmly believe somewhere Lucy had a hand in putting this all together, despite the horrible circumstances in which we all find ourselves in.

We're dedicating this season to our ultimate Stranded Winner. Lucy, winner of Stranded in Turks & Caicos, season 32.


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Jeff Probst

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By Melinda
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#22690
Wow this is so sad :( I don't believe I ever met this person but if they were someone who played AIM minigames way back in the day who knows, perhaps our paths crossed in the interwebs at some point in time. I'm very sad to hear of this, and appreciate you Poody for acknowledging this. I am very sorry :(
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Melinda

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By Aubry
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#22694
Whoa, I had no idea!! Lucy was an incredible player, and I was actually afraid he would be on this season because of how easy he made it seem to dominate the game. He had confessionals that I actually looked forward to reading - I hope we can do him proud here.
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Aubry

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