Lottery winner diagnosed with cancer wants to give back to people who ‘blessed’ him

A lottery player in Maryland said he plans to use his winnings to pay it forward.

The $50,000 winner from Oxon Hill was diagnosed with cancer a few months before he won big on a Holiday Cash scratch-off, according to a Maryland Lottery news release.

“I’ve been blessed with a great support system,” the man said, speaking of his plans to help his family and friends.

“I want to bless them,” the winner said.

He also plans to donate some of his prize to cancer research and to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, according to lottery officials.

The man is also a “football fanatic” and said he was watching his team play when he decided to scratch his tickets, officials said.

“Scratching that ticket felt like a touchdown to me,” he said.

The man won a top $50,000 prize in 2017 and has been aiming to win even bigger since then, officials said.

“I’ve been on a mission to win $100,000,” he said.

Oxon Hill is about 10 miles south of Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published February 18, 2024 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Lottery winner diagnosed with cancer wants to give back to people who ‘blessed’ him."

Lauren Liebhaber

mcclatchy-newsroom

Lauren Liebhaber covers international science news with a focus on taxonomy and archaeology at McClatchy. She holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University and a master’s degree from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Previously, she worked as a data journalist at Stacker.