A couple won a life-changing sum of money—then days later, found out that their son was no longer dying from cancer.
John and Allison McDonald from Stockton-on-Tees, in County Durham in the north-east of England bought a lottery lucky dip ticket for the draw on Wednesday, December 18.
Their family had been through a tough 2019. Their 15-year-old son Ewan had undergone six rounds of chemotherapy after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in May, Teeside Live reported.
But after seeing that the numbers on his lottery ticket matched the drawing, John McDonald revealed his "legs were trembling" when he rang the lottery operator Camelot to check that he was not mistaken, according to Sky News.
John tried to call his wife, but she was at the dentist's. When Allison saw that she had a missed call, she feared that something had "gone wrong with Ewan."
"Never did I believe when I called him back he would be telling me we had won the lottery jackpot," she told a press conference on Friday.
Three days after winning a £2m lottery jackpot this couple were told that their 15-year-old son Ewan was clear of cancer https://t.co/w3gfh3awlC
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) January 3, 2020
They now had £2 million [$2.6 million], enough for them both to quit their jobs—his as a 70-hour-a-week security officer, and hers as an optician. They also had more than enough to buy a new house.
But Lady Luck had not quite finished with them. Three days later, they were then given the even better news that Ewan was free of the cancer that had developed in his lymphatic system.
John McDonald told a press conference: "It is just like all of our lifelong dreams came true in the space of three days."
"What a start to 2020. Everyone always dreams of winning the lottery at Christmas, and talks about how amazing this would be, but Allison and I never believed it would happen to us, and it has.
"And then to receive news that Ewan's latest scans are all clear is just truly amazing.
"We are so thankful. 2020 is certainly looking like being one amazing year for the three of us."
Allison 49, said the money has bought them freedom to spend time with their family, which includes two other children and three grandchildren, Sky News reported.
"We can both now afford to stop work and spend time with our family making memories, something we could only have ever dreamed of doing," she said.
"This is just the most amazing feeling ever," she added.
