Woman dies of cancer after $1.5M lottery win
MOUNT PEARL, N.L.— A Newfoundland woman who was suffering from an advanced form of cancer when she won a $1.5-million lottery jackpot in November has died.
Diane Elaine Bishop of Mount Pearl had Stage 4 breast cancer.
An online obituary says the 51-yearold convenience store operator, who had two sons in their 20s, died Tuesday surrounded by her family.
In October, Bishop told CBC she couldn’t afford to stop working at the store in Mount Pearl despite her diagnosis and a daily battle with joint pain, nausea and headaches.
Strangers soon started to come forward to offer her financial support.
When she won the lottery a month later, she said she was responding to chemotherapy treatment.
“This money wasn’t about going out and buying a new house or taking trips,” she said at the time. “This was about survival. I can survive now, and my kids can survive.”
There was a growing list of online tributes to Bishop on Wednesday.
“Her continuing public struggle to fight for government medical funding for all terminal patients everywhere, has been incredibly moving,” said one message on a funeral home site.
Afuneral service is planned for Saturday at Barrett’s Funeral Home Chapel in St. John’s.