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Cancer Patient Wins The Lottery And Then Learns Her Treatment Is Working

Cancer Patient Wins The Lottery And Then Learns Her Treatment Is Working

Diane Bishop had been working as a manager in a convenience store but after winning the Atlantic Lottery she can finally retire.

James Dawson

James Dawson

A Canadian woman with advanced breast cancer has won C$1.5m (£886,000) on the lottery and can now afford to quit her job.

Diane Bishop, from the town of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, had been working as a manager in a convenience store but now she can finally retire.

She won the Atlantic Lottery after buying a ticket from the shop she worked at and now says that - as well as allowing her to quit her job and pay off her's and her son's mortgage - she will travel to Toronto for clinical tests for a new cancer treatment

She told CBC News: "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."

Credit: CBC

Unfortunately, her cancer is advanced, but she is making some improvements, which she describes as a second miracle.

She had hoped she would be able to retire at an earlier date, but government payments would have barely covered her mortgage.

CBC told her story in October, with strangers chipping in and making donations to help her get the treatment she needs.

However, she no longer needs to worry about money and can focus on her health, concentrating on treating and managing her condition, rather than working.

She said: "It's Stage 4, but I'm not giving up. We are still going to do the fight."

Credit: CBC

"It's like this big ball of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The stress is gone, the anxieties of being sick, I know I can't beat Stage 4 because you're a ticking time bomb, but it's given me hope that maybe it can go dormant for a while ... and I can live my life."

"I may not survive if I get pneumonia, so I had to weigh the pros and the cons and say, 'OK, you know what, there's got to be a way to make it, if I don't work.' My health has to come first."

"She has already used the money to buy a therapeutic bed, and a special chair for her to sit in whilst recovering from her chemotherapy, but her biggest relief is that she can leave her sons with financial stability.

"I can pay all our debts off and we get a clean slate, if I need to go anywhere, there's still money left over. I can invest the rest for the future, and it makes life a whole lot easier."

Featured Image Credit: CBC / Atlantic Lottery Company

Topics: Cancer, Canada, Lottery