Beating the Odds Twice: When Cancer Survivors Win the Lottery
They faced cancer—and won. Then they won again. These real-life lottery stories show how survivors from around the world defied the odds not once, but twice. From hospital beds to jackpot celebrations, their journeys are a tribute to resilience, luck, and the unshakable power of hope.
If you’ve ever fought cancer, you know what it means to face impossible odds.
You stop looking at numbers like they matter. Five-year survival rates, remission chances, the 1-in-whatever odds of your specific mutation—you hear them once, maybe twice, and then you let them go. Because when you’re trying to stay alive, you don’t need statistics. You need hope.
And that’s where the lottery comes in.
Not because it makes sense. But because sometimes, scratching a ticket or filling out a few numbers is one of the only things in life you still get to choose.
And sometimes—rarely, wildly, beautifully—that choice changes everything.
Donna Osborne: The Delay That Saved Everything
Donna was supposed to be on a plane. But the flight got delayed. She found herself at a gas station in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She had just finished radiation for breast cancer—exhausted but alive—and decided to buy a scratch-off ticket.
That decision changed her life.
Five million dollars.
She cried in her car. Then walked back into the store, shaky and unsure, asking the clerk to double-check it. When it was confirmed, she phoned her daughter, who thought it was a joke.
After everything—the doctor visits, the side effects, the fatigue—this ticket felt like a small miracle she never asked for. Donna didn’t quit her job.
“I have to keep moving,”
she said. But now she could move freely. With peace. With time.
Charlie Saephan: A Billion Prayers
For eight years, Charlie Saephan fought cancer. He took his meds. He showed up for chemo. And every night, he wrote his lottery numbers on a scrap of paper and tucked it under his pillow.
Then one morning in April 2024, he woke up a billionaire.
Charlie had just undergone chemotherapy the week before when he learned he’d won $1.3 billion in the Powerball. He stood before cameras and said what no financial advisor could prepare for:
“How am I going to have time to spend all of this money? How long will I live?”
He smiled softly and said he was grateful. Not for the money. For the chance. To see his family cared for. To maybe get better doctors. To maybe stay longer.
He didn’t want a yacht. He wanted more time.
Maxine Lloyd: A Million Pounds and a Final Radiotherapy
Somewhere in Northamptonshire, England, Maxine Lloyd was finishing up her treatment for breast cancer. She had already gone through surgery, chemo, and radiation. Just two weeks before her last session, exhausted and up late caring for her partner, she opened the National Lottery app on her phone.
She played an instant game. It said £1 million.
She blinked. Probably a glitch. She woke her fiancé.
“We’ve just won a million pounds,” she whispered.
“Can’t do anything about it now,” he mumbled. “Go back to sleep.”
The next morning, it was confirmed. The funds hit her account while she was lying on the radiotherapy table.
“It was the cherry on the cake,” she said.
“After everything, it just felt like life was finally letting me breathe.”
Ronnie Foster: One Last Treatment, One Winning Ticket
Ronnie was on his way to his final chemotherapy session for colon cancer. He stopped for gas and decided to buy one last scratch-off. He won five bucks. Swapped it for two more tickets.
The second one hit $200,000.
“I was already happy because it was my last round of chemo,” he said.
“Winning this made it my lucky day.”
The timing was uncanny. The money? A blessing. But the win? It just confirmed something Ronnie already knew: sometimes, just getting to the end is a victory in itself.
David Serkin: A Quiet Survivor With Four Big Wins
David Serkin never shouted about luck. He just kept playing.
After surviving cancer and retiring in Alberta, Canada, he continued his decades-long lottery habit—modest, hopeful, never expecting much.
Then it happened.
Four wins. $2.5 million total. Including three major prizes in under a year.
He didn’t scream or splurge. He smiled. Took his wife to Hawaii. Booked a trip to Newfoundland. Said,
“I’m just grateful for all of it.”
David never thought he’d win. But after cancer, he said, everything already felt like a bonus.
Diane Bishop: The Win That Bought Her Time
Diane Bishop was tired. She was running a convenience store in Newfoundland, working through stage 4 breast cancer. She couldn’t afford experimental treatments not covered by health insurance. She was thinking about giving up work entirely.
Then she sold herself a ticket.
It won $1.5 million.
“It was like all my stress left me in that moment,”
she said. She cried. Then she called her kids.
The money didn’t cure her cancer, but it bought her peace. It gave her a warm house and the treatment she needed. A few more months. A few more memories. And the ability to leave her family with something more than worry.
Sonia Davies: Surgery, Then £61 Million
Sonia Davies had just undergone emergency surgery in the U.S. to remove a tumor. While she was still recovering, her family back in the UK bought a few EuroMillions tickets.
One of them hit.
£61 million.
The next morning, still groggy from surgery, she got the call: they had won.
She sobbed.
“It felt like the universe had given us a second chance,”
she said.
Sonia’s story wasn’t about money—it was about survival. About being able to walk out of the hospital with a future again. About going from hospital gowns to holiday plans in a heartbeat.
Iris Jeffrey: The Washing Machine and the £20 Million
In 2004, Iris Jeffrey was undergoing chemotherapy for esophageal cancer. She had tucked her lottery ticket away in a drawer and forgotten about it.
Three weeks later, she realized she’d won £20.1 million.
She didn’t scream. She didn’t throw a party.
“I thought I had all six numbers,” she said, “and I just thought… that’s nice.”
She said she would use the money to fund advanced treatment abroad. She didn’t want yachts or headlines. Just more time. Maybe a new washing machine.
In a press conference, she said the thing most people wouldn’t understand:
“Money might not save my life. But it means I don’t have to fight everything alone.”
Nicky Cusack: A Win After a Year of Hell
2009 was supposed to break Nicky Cusack.
She’d been attacked by a pack of dogs. Then diagnosed with breast cancer. Then scheduled for chemo and radiotherapy.
Then she bought a Lucky Dip ticket.
She won £2.49 million.
“I’m happy I’ve won,” she said, “but I’m also sad. I know what’s coming. Chemo will be hell.”
She didn’t quit her job at the supermarket. She donated to cancer charities. Bought a home. Took care of her kids. And said simply,
“This doesn’t fix everything. But it makes the fight a little easier.”
Gina Short: A Second Chance—Twice
Gina was already living on borrowed time. She had stage 4 breast cancer and was still undergoing treatment when she entered a second-chance lottery drawing.
She won $1 million.
Her knees gave out. She thought it was a mistake. “You’ve got the wrong girl,” she said. Same thing she said when she was diagnosed.
Then, weeks later, she won again. $250,000.
“The odds of beating this cancer were already slim,” she said.
“The odds of winning twice? It just felt like someone was giving me more time.”
Why They Play
They don’t play to get rich.
They play because it gives them something to imagine.
Because after months of hospitals, blood tests, and sterile hallways, you need something stupidly beautiful—something random and full of wonder—to remind you that you’re still alive.
They play because they’ve faced the worst odds already.
And sometimes, they win again.
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