Woman wins $5 million jackpot shortly after finishing breast cancer treatment

Donna Osborne said she wants to travel to Alaska after becoming a millionaire.

July 8, 2024, 4:41 PM

A Pennsylvania woman recently hit the jackpot twice, first by finishing treatment for breast cancer and then by winning an actual lottery jackpot.

Donna Osborne, 75, won $5 million on a scratch-off ticket that she purchased in June at a gas station in Lancaster County, where she lives, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery.

Osborne told Lottery officials that she bought the ticket on her way home from the airport, where her flight had been delayed so many times that she decided not to travel.

The great-grandmother said she had finished radiation treatment for breast cancer, and was on her way to Florida with her daughter to see family.

"[The flight] was delayed so many times, I decided to go home. My daughter stayed and flew to Florida," Osborne said, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. "If I didn't leave the airport, I would have never bought that ticket."

PHOTO: Lottery winner Donna Osborne, left, poses with Staci Coombs, deputy director of corporate sales for the Pennsylvania Lottery.
Lottery winner Donna Osborne, left, poses with Staci Coombs, deputy director of corporate sales for the Pennsylvania Lottery.
Pennsylvania Lottery

Osborne said she discovered she had won while still in the gas station parking lot.

"I could not believe my eyes!" said Osborne, who could not be reached by ABC News. "I went back into the store and said, 'Can you please check this? Is it right or wrong?' Well, the clerk said, 'It's right.'"

Osborne's daughter had continued on to Florida, and did not believe her mother when she called to tell her she had won $5 million, according to Osborne.

"She didn't believe me," she said of her daughter.

Osborne told Pennsylvania Lottery officials she plans to continue working, saying, "I don't know what I'd do with myself, I have to keep moving."

She added, however, that she does hope to travel to Alaska with her winnings, which she said she also plans to invest.

Lottery officials did not say how much Osborne will take home after taxes.