Lottery Winners Battling Cancer: When Life Is a Lottery Too

We all know that winning the lottery is a big dream, and many of us hope one day it will happen. Life, however, can sometimes be a bit of a lottery too. Here are 2 inspiring stories of the lottery winners battling cancer that will give hope to anyone. Never give up on life and never give up on the lottery!

Diane Bishop’s Brave Cancer Fight

How many of us worry about being able to afford medical bills should the worst happen? When Diane Bishop of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, she knew that she simply wouldn’t be able to give up work to give her all to fighting her illness as she couldn’t afford not to. The single mother, who has been struggling to manage work at a convenience store, whilst coping with the day to day rigors of breast cancer had a stroke of good fortune. Bishop had actually sold a few big-winning tickets over the years, but has never won the lottery herself!

A chance decision to buy a Super Set Lottery for Life ticket netted her a surprise win of C$1.5 million, which means that she can now try her hardest to live in comfort whilst she continues to fight the fight against this cruellest of diseases. “This money wasn’t about going out and buying a new house or taking trips. This was about survival. I can survive now, and my kids can survive.” Ms. Bishop said at a press conference. She also added: “It’s Stage 4, but I’m not giving up. We are still going to do the fight”.

She now says she’ll retire and put all her energy into making her life as pain free and comfortable as possible.

When friends initially found out about her diagnosis, they raised funds to help her, and this money will now be given away to help another fellow patient with the same illness as Ms Bishop.

She has already used a portion of the money to buy a new bed and a recliner, both of which will help considerably with rest and pain management and she’s hoping to be able to travel to take part in clinical studies that will hopefully go towards helping other cancer sufferers. With the remaining money she’ll help to pay off both her son’s mortgages too.

Since the win, Ms Bishop has undergone a fourth course of chemotherapy in her bid to try and regain health and for the first time, the treatment worked and there has been signs of improvement in her condition. Nothing short of a miracle! Hopefully Diane can carry on successfully on her road to battling cancer.

Sonia Davies and Her Lucky Lottery Win

When Sonia Davies was on holiday in Florida recovering from surgery for Throat Cancer, her daughters were surprised to get a phone call from her begging them to go and buy a lottery ticket. They initially thought she was mad, but they carried out her wish, as she was so insistent.

Whether it was fate or not, what happened next was genuinely unbelievable. The ticket, purchased for the Davies family syndicate by Sonia’s daughter Stephanie scooped the National Lottery rollover jackpot of £61 million. After the win, speaking to the media, Sonia said she felt like the “luckiest woman on the planet”.

Diagnosed with throat cancer – after doctors found a tumor on her parathyroid gland, Mrs Davies went over to Florida to have life saving surgery, followed by a restful and relaxing holiday to try and regain some strength. Doctors were happy with how the surgery had gone and told her that it had successfully removed the tumor and she should recover. Her call to her daughters, urging them to buy a lottery ticket, simply happened as she felt she was lucky and on a winning streak she felt she could capitalize on.

Stephanie said she  “didn’t for a minute” think she would win, but that she still had a feeling of “someone shining down on you”.

The jackpot of £61,102,442.90 will now be shared out with Sonia’s other daughter, Courtney, who is 19, Sonia’s partner, Keith Reynolds, and Stephanie’s partner, Steve Powell.

Speaking after the win, Sonia said the entire family had experienced a “rollercoaster of a week”. She went on to explain that if the surgery hadn’t been performed when it was, the condition would have taken her life. She was already on the road to losing her voice totally.

After the operation, she was given the all clear straightaway, so the decision to buy the lottery ticket was made and it was only when Keith, her partner had been checking his emails that they learned that it rollover was week in the National Lottery. Picking up the tale, Sonia said: “He was convinced that we were the luckiest people on the planet and definitely on a winning streak after the success of my op … something told us we needed to get a ticket – and the rest is history.”

After the call to her daughter, Stephanie went and bought six Lucky Dip tickets at a garage near the family home in Monmouth. She admittedly forgot to check the numbers until the next morning after the draw. As she went to bed, she jokingly commented to her boyfriend: “If I shout down, it means we’ve won the lottery, and if not I’ve gone to bed.”

It was only when she actually checked that she realized they’d matched the numbers required to take the jackpot! She went downstairs and had a hard task convincing her partner that she wasn’t joking when she told him they’d scooped the jackpot. When he’d checked the numbers himself, he realized she wasn’t joking.

However, the joy turned to slight panic and the couple decided to lock all their doors and windows as well as taking selfies with the ticket to prove that they’d got the winning numbers.

They called Stephanie’s mother and partner to let them know, followed by Stephanie’s sister, Courtney before finally calling Camelot, to claim their prize. The winning numbers were 1, 21, 26, 40, 50 and Lucky Stars 2 and 4.

When asked how they’d use their money, Sonia and Keith said they wanted an oak framed car port for their home in Ross on Wye. Younger daughter Courtney wanted to replace her ageing Volkswagen car and really wanted to buy a new electric toothbrush – as she felt she could justify the purchase now! She sure can, and the whole family will benefit from the windfall too.