I fought cancer then won life-changing £2.5m lottery prize – I always knew I would win… here’s the first thing I did
A LOTTO jackpot winner has told how she scooped a whopping £2.5million just after fighting cancer.
Tracy Field was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer back in 2007 – and kept buying lottery tickets throughout her treatment.
She underwent six months of chemotherapy and four weeks of radiotheraphy and by summer 2008 her life was starting to get back on track.
On July 30, her life once again changed forever – this time for the better.
Tracy had religiously purchased tickets for the Wednesday and Saturday lotto draws during her weekly shop in Sainsbury’s.
She always checked both her tickets on Sunday – but this week she had a feeling to check the ticket on a Wednesday instead.
She told Essex Live back in 2019: “For some reason, on the Wednesday I went on the computer. I just went onto the bit where it comes up with the numbers and I crossed it all off.
“At first I thought I only had five of the numbers and I was like ‘oh my God’ and then I looked at the last number and I thought oh really? I was quite shocked.
“Just as life was starting to get back to normal, I won the lottery. It couldn’t have been a better time.
“Every cloud has a silver lining and that was mine. I went through what I went through and I was rewarded I guess.”
Tracy scooped a whopping £2,561,593.
The first thing she did after realising she had won big was ring her best friend.
She couldn’t believe her eyes and immediately called her best friend at the time to come and check the numbers.
Tracy said: “I rang her and I said come around, I need to tell you something.
“She rang up the number too and checked the numbers as well and she was just screaming.”
Despite her bad luck health-wise, Tracy said she had alway knew she would have luck with money.
She explained: “I just always had a really funny feeling that – maybe not necessary the lottery – but I knew I was going to come into money. Obviously I worked, I had got young children and I was a single parent but there was always this element that the hardship wouldn’t last forever.
“I was obviously very shocked when I did but there was always just a funny feeling that something was going to happen. I always felt it.”
And the big win meant she was able to put her health first.
She explained: “It meant that if I ever needed any treatment, I wouldn’t need to worry – I would just pay for it. That was the biggest thing for me.
“My health is so important, I was too young to die. Even now if I go to the doctors, I say I want a private refferal.
“It meant a massive amount to me. I haven’t really struggled with money – I went to work. Me and my ex have a good relationship and the children had equal time with both of us so he would help with school uniform.
“It wasn’t a struggle but we always just about made ends meet. It made a massive difference, I didn’t need to go to work and I moved into a bigger house.”
Tracy bought herself a bigger house and later bought her two sons, Ryan and Ross houses in 2009.
She said: “I have bought a house, a new car. I haven’t bought anything extraordinary.
“I took my mum, my aunt and best friend at the time to Cyprus, we had a beautiful hotel. I also went to New York at Christmas.
“I have since been on lots of different holidays all around the world that we would probably have never been able to have.”