Hey, Millionaire! We normally think of the Powerball when we want to buy a lottery
ticket. But there's more than one way to win the lottery. Lana McKenzie's story is proof that
lottery wins can come from weird places. The mom of two got her big win thanks to a pretty
dark event in her life. This story proves that every cloud has a silver lining - and
your life can change at any moment. This is the story of how Lana became a millionaire.
Lana McKenzie is an ordinary mom of two from Vancouver, Canada. The family was
pretty normal - until their lives were turned upside down when Lana's two-and-a-half-year-old
son was suddenly diagnosed with a serious condition. He was born with kidney problems,
and his enlarged kidney required surgery. He was treated at the BC Children's Hospital. But,
even though Lana trusted the surgeons, she says that handing her baby boy's life over
to the doctors was the hardest thing she's ever had to do. She remembers sitting in
the nearest Starbucks and crying all day while her son was in his hospital bed.
But two good things came out of the experience.
The first good thing happened when the doctors told Lana that her son would live a normal,
healthy life after his surgery. At the time, she thought she couldn't wish for anything else. But,
the hospital was holding a lottery to help them raise funds for new machines and to help them
continue groundbreaking research into childhood illness. That sure is a good cause, and Lana was
so grateful to the doctors and nurses who had saved her son's life that she wanted to give
something back to them. So, at the last moment, she bought a few of the hospital lottery tickets.
Did you know - 342 Euromillions lottery tickets are sold every second? Can you hit
subscribe before another 1,700 are sold? You have 5 seconds! 5...4...3...2...1!
Well done! Now keep watching to find out what happened with Lana's hospital lottery tickets.
She definitely didn't think anything would happen when she bought those tickets. After all,
she was one of 300,000 tickets! She was just joining in to help the hospital raise funds.
But then she had a vivid dream about winning the lottery. Lana had always been a believer
in the laws of attraction. She said she used to visualize parking spots opening up for her,
and when she arrived, they'd be there for her to park. She believes the vivid dream
gave her a belief that she was going to win - which helped her win in real life. You
might not believe in visualization or the laws of attraction, but it sure seemed to work for Lana.
Do you believe in the Laws of Attraction?
Tell us in the comments! Also, tell us how it has worked for you in real life.
On the day of the draw, she went into work. The hospital was televising the draw at lunchtime.
But Lana's schedule was changed that day, and she had to take a late lunch, so she missed the draw
when it happened. But even though she'd missed the draw, other people had seen it. When Lana got
up to go to lunch, she realized there were three missed calls from an unknown number on her phone.
Before she could find out who the mystery caller was, her colleague walked into the office,
asking Lana if she had her ticket. Lana had totally forgotten about the lottery draw
and started talking about something else. Her colleague had to remind her about the lottery
draw, and she had good reason - she knew that the winner was someone by the name of L McKenzie.
She just didn't know if Lana had ever bought a ticket. When Lana realized what she was saying,
she checked her ticket number while her colleague found the winning number.
And, sure enough, the numbers matched. Lana had won $2.2 million!
What's the first thing you would do if you won $2.2 million?
Let us know in the comments! And keep watching to find out what Lana
could do with her new fortune - and, sadly, all the things money can't buy.
The first person she called was her husband. This was a big deal to them as a family.
Her husband had to work away from home, which meant he missed a lot of quality time with
his wife and kids. He had always wanted to find some way to be closer to his family,
and this money would allow him to do that. Also, it meant he could buy the boat he'd
been wishing for - we all have those purchases we've always hoped we could afford one day, right?
It looked like Lana's life was changing for the better - her son was healthy,
her husband could move back in with his family, and she had loads of cash.
But then something awful happened. Lana's mom had been fighting recurring breast cancer,
and she sadly passed away. During her treatment, the doctors had discovered she had a breast cancer
gene which she'd passed on to both Lana and her sister. As if losing her mom wasn't hard enough,
Lana's sister's worst fears came true, and she was also diagnosed with breast cancer.
She had a long and very difficult fight ahead of her.
But Lana is a naturally positive person, and she saw her new wealth as a way to help her sister.
She was visiting a lot, and she could even help out by buying her sister some of the luxuries that
made her battle with cancer much easier. But it was emotionally difficult knowing that her sister
was going through such a terrible time in her life while Lana was enjoying her new wealth. Still,
the money allowed the sisters to spend time together during that difficult time. Finally,
she got the all-clear - Lana might have lost her mom, but she still had a sister.
After watching the fight her mom and sister had to go through, and knowing she also had the breast
cancer gene, Lana made a decision. She used some of her lottery winnings for preventative surgery.
The double mastectomy and immediate reconstruction is a drastic option to prevent breast cancer.
Still, it does work - her cancer risk is now 5% lower than the average. But she couldn't have
done it without her lottery winnings. With all her new money, she had the freedom to have the
surgery and take the 3 months off work that she needed to recover. While she was recovering, her
husband was also able to stay home and help Lana look after the kids. None of that would have been
possible without the lottery winnings. Plus, she got to recover in her "dream home," as she put it.
Lana's a pretty positive person! Not everyone would've handled that so well.
Tell us one way that you're also super positive like her!
Now, everyone in the family is doing well. Her son and sister are both healthy,
she has a beautiful home, and she can visit her family and go on holiday whenever she wants. She
even took her husband out to Mexico to visit his cousins that he hadn't seen in years. But, unlike
a lot of lottery winners, Lana still has a job. That surprises a lot of people, but she says she
likes it. Her lottery fortune allows her to only work part-time while the kids are at school so she
can spend time with her family in the afternoons. I'm sure a lot of people wish for that every day.
She says the experience has been positive. She said the weirdest part
was how people who never cared about her before were suddenly trying to get in touch,
like people she hadn't seen since school. She didn't really mind, though. She just ignored them.
It didn't really matter because it brought her family together. She says lottery winners need
to be careful with their money. She says you can get caught up in the excitement and all the
possibilities that open up when you suddenly become rich. She says she understands that it
could be easy to lose your fortune entirely. She says, if you win, take the time to make decisions.
The experience must have been an emotional rollercoaster for Lana. But it all worked
out in the end. But we can add her story to the growing list of lottery winners who
believe in the laws of attraction. If you can win the lottery just by believing you will,
you have to wonder what we're all waiting for. Maybe you should try it for yourself.