A stroke of good luck took a turn for the worst for 52-year-old New Yorker Donald Savastano, who passed away from cancer just three weeks after winning $1 million from a scratch-off ticket.
Savastano told reporters that he was planning to use his winnings to “buy a new truck, pay off some debt and invest for the future.” According to WBNG, he was a self-employed carpenter and did not have insurance. After he won the money, he also made sure to take a trip to the doctor, as reports say he hadn’t been feeling well. The diagnosis was stage four cancer, a battle which he lost on Friday, Jan. 26.
“He had a friend come and talk to me, and they told me that he was very sick and that he had brain and lung cancer and that he was in the hospital and they didn’t think he was going to make it,” said Danielle Scott, who was the cashier who sold him the ticket. “He was a good person, he deserved [to win], I just wish he had more time with it.”