Mecklenburg woman fighting cancer wins $1 million from NC lottery

A Mecklenburg woman who has been battling breast cancer for the past six years won a million dollars in a second-chance lottery drawing.

Gina Short fell to the floor at the Charlotte regional lottery office when she learned she’d won the money in the Ultimate Millions second-chance drawing.

“I have a second chance,” Short said later, according to a news release from the N.C. Education Lottery. “That’s what my whole life is about, second chances.”

Short’s entry was drawn from more than 1.2 million entries in the drawing and she learned of the win during a visit to the lottery’s Charlotte regional office. She claimed her prize with her husband, Len, who has supported her during her surgery and treatments.

“I might have gone through the breast cancer, but this is the guy that told me not to run,” Short said. “I wanted to give up, but he would not let me give up.”

Short faces additional cancer treatments, but said the prize is going to help her to “truly live.”

Short chose the lump sum payment and after federal and state tax withholdings received $415,500. She declined to take the $1 million annuity that has 20 payments of $50,000 a year.

Short won the first of three $1 million prizes in second-chance drawings associated with the Ultimate Millions game. The drawing also awarded ten prizes of $5,000 and 25 prizes of $500.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Mecklenburg woman fighting cancer wins $1 million from NC lottery."