Family win lottery as teenage son beats cancer
A family found out their teenage son had beaten cancer a few days after winning a £2m lottery jackpot. The family say it is the “most amazing feeling ever”.
On Wednesday 18 December, John and Allison McDonald purchased a lucky dip ticket that happened to matched all six numbers.
Shortly after, three days to be precise, the UK couple from Stockton-on-Tees heard that 15-year-old Ewan was free of cancer. He had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system. The teenager had been undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed in May 2019.
The win has given the couple the “financial security to buy a lovely new family home”.
“It is just like all of our lifelong dreams came true in the space of three days,” says John McDonald.
“What a start to 2020,” said John. During an interview, he said his “legs were trembling” as he rang lottery operator Camelot. Allison, who had been to the dentist, saw that her husband had called her. She immediately thought the worse.
“I just thought, ‘Oh no, why is he calling me – something must be wrong, something terrible has happened, has something gone wrong with Ewan?’ She was in disbelief when the call was about their lottery winnings.
“Never did I believe when I called him back he would be telling me we had won the lottery jackpot.”
John said: “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 certainly looks to be one amazing year for the three of them. “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,” Mrs McDonald said.
Mrs McDonald, 49, worked in an opticians. Mr McDonald, 62, often worked 70-hour weeks as a security officer. Both have now handed in their notices.
The couple also have two other children and three grandchildren, who they can enjoy more time with.
