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Lady Luck has smiled twice on a North West man battling aggressive prostate cancer - his disease has been successfully treated and he is a multimillionaire.
The player spent R45 on his winning ticket for the July 26 Lotto draw‚ winning R17.5-million.
“After visiting my local store and seeing I had a winning ticket‚ I immediately drove back home and shared the news with my wife. She was in the kitchen when I told her the news we both started crying as we couldn’t believe it‚” said the winner‚ in an interview with the lottery operator Ithuba.
Ithuba said their winner was diagnosed with cancer in February last year.
“After finding out I was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer I felt like my life was coming to an end. I started cancer treatment and all I could do was hope for the best‚” the winner told Ithuba.
Bad luck struck again on May 18 this year when he was driving to work.
“My work requires me to travel a lot and on this day I was on the road and suddenly my left eye was blurry and I was struggling to see the road. I consulted a doctor and he scheduled an emergency operation. Unfortunately‚ the operation was not a success and I lost all vision in my left eye‚" he said.
After the operation‚ he couldn’t resume work and this affected his income. In June‚ he received his last cheque from the company as his sick leave days had been depleted.
“We were already struggling to make ends meet as I was not earning a full salary since being at home. It was really tough without a stable income and being the main breadwinner I thought we were going to be destitute.”
Then his luck changed.
A recent visit to the doctor revealed that he has been cleared of cancer.
“You can imagine my shock when the doctor said my blood count shows that there is no trace of cancer. I feel like I have been given a new lease on life‚” said the winner.
The Lotto winnings will allow him to have another eye operation to help his sight.
He also plans to enjoy his retirement; invest some of the windfall‚ share the money with his children‚ and buy his grandson a car he promised him.