A cancer patient who stopped at a lottery shop on the way to chemotherapy has won 500 million won ($360,000) on an instant scratch ticket.
Dong Haeng Lottery said the top prize in the 109th round of Speetto 1000 came from a ticket sold at a shop on Wolgot Jungang-ro 70-gil in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.
The winner, identified only as A, had regularly bought Lotto and Speetto tickets each week, saying the purchases reflected small everyday hopes rather than high expectations.
The day the prize came was much like any other, except that A was headed to a hospital. On the way to a chemotherapy session, A stopped at the lottery shop and bought two Speetto 1000 tickets.
A did not check the tickets on the spot. They were set aside and only scratched several days later, when A suddenly remembered them.
One of A's numbers matched a lucky number on the ticket. A initially assumed it was a small prize, but the amount turned out to be the top prize.
"I have always lived with the positive belief that luck could come to me one day," A said. "Now that a big stroke of luck has actually arrived, I feel surprisingly calm."
A plans to use the money for continued treatment and retirement. Citing the heavy cost of chemotherapy in recent months, A said, "I am truly grateful, because this prize money should be a great help for my treatment going forward and for my later years."
A also expressed relief at being able to continue treatment without placing a financial burden on family members. "Above all, knowing that I can continue treatment without holding out my hand to my children comes as a great joy and relief," A said.
Speetto 1000 is an instant printed lottery ticket that pays out when one of the buyer's six numbers matches a "lucky number" printed on the ticket. Each ticket costs 1,000 won, with a top prize of 500 million won.
