American man wins $315,000 on the way to his last chemotherapy treatment

Ronnie Foster couldn't believe his luck when he saw "all those zeroes" on his ticket.
Ronnie Foster couldn't believe his luck when he saw "all those zeroes" on his ticket. Photo credit: Getty Images

A North Carolina man on the way to his last chemotherapy treatment won $US200,000 ($NZ315,000) on a scratchie.

Ronnie Foster told CNN he first purchased a US$1 ticket and won US$5. At the last minute, he decided to trade in the US$5 for two more tickets.

His first ticket didn’t win anything, but then he scratched the second ticket and saw "all those zeroes".

"I didn't believe it until I gave it to the clerk at the counter to scan. When it showed, 'Go to lottery headquarters', I started shaking. I couldn't believe it," he said.

Foster, a retired Department of Transport worker, has colon cancer and is nearing the end of his treatment.

The lottery win made a good day even better.

"I was already happy because it was my last round of chemo," Foster said.

"Winning this made it my lucky day."

A part of Foster’s lottery win will go towards paying off some of his treatment costs that weren’t covered under his medical insurance. The rest is saved "for the future".

After taxes were deducted, Foster took home $US141,501 ($NZ222,853) and he claimed his prize on Friday (local time).

Newshub.