Lottery winner urges people to stay on top of their health

By Kate Northrop

A cancer patient found out from her doctor that she was officially cancer-free immediately after winning a £1 million (US$1.19 million) lottery jackpot.

Maxine Lloyd, 50, of Kettering, Northamptonshire, is incredibly lucky — she received two sets of good news that anyone would be more than happy to receive one of.

However, she's had to overcome a few difficult obstacles and has shown nothing but resilience in the face of adversity to get there.

Her fiancé, Wayne Tilbury, 57, had collapsed from a chest infection and needed to be rushed to the hospital. Lloyd was there to take care of him, and the entire experience kicked off a whirlwind domino effect.

"I was a bit worried about him, keeping my eye on him," she said in an interview with Good Morning Britain. "I was a bit bored as well because he was just not with it, so I decided to play an instant win game on the lottery app."

"I put £20 in my account, and I played one of the games, and it [came] up a million and it didn't really sink in," she recounted. "Then I finished the game, [and] it was like, 'Congratulations, you've won a million.'"

The winner was going through her first round of radiotherapy when she received a thrilling text message. At first, she thought that it was her fiancé trying to get ahold of her during her treatment, but it was really her bank letting her know that the winnings had successfully been transferred to her account.

Then came the most incredible finding of a lifetime — she was officially cancer-free.

Lloyd credits the recovery with catching the disease early on.

"As a result of earlier diagnosis, all my cancer was removed at the stage of surgery," she explained. "Obviously the chemotherapy and radiotherapy came from further tests on that cancer to say that it will reduce the risk of it returning for myself."

At the time she decided to see a doctor about her suspicions, Lloyd said her symptoms were not typical.

"My changes were very, very different to the normal lump," she described. "People think you need to find a lump. I didn't have a lump — I had a change in skin and dimpling. The specialist breast team diagnosed me, and I was in really good hands."

Her message to others? Get checked by a doctor, regardless of any predisposition or lack thereof.

"Every woman or gentleman, because it is relevant with gentleman as well, I'd say just check," she urged others. "My main message would be, if you notice anything different about any part of your body, just go and get that checked out because it's better to walk out with that reassurance that it's nothing."

Regarding the winnings, Lloyd said that it's not going to be enough to convince her to retire from her job as an occupational therapist.

"Oh yeah, I love my job," she assured.

However, she and her fiancé have a lot planned for the coming year, including a wedding, which they just secured a date for. They're also running the 10k Race for Life for Cancer Research and want to get a companion for their dog Rosco, who she describes as having "been the most amazing support... he's been my therapy dog."

Thanks to TheMeatman2005 for the tip.