When carpenter Donald Savastano of New York won $1,000,000 on a scratchcard earlier this year he thought it was the answer to all his dreams. Self employed and with little saved for the future, he had no retirement plan when he bought a $10 lottery ticket on a whim, but he got lucky and scooped $1,000,000, changing his whole future. However, fate has dealt him a poor hand, as just three weeks later the winner has passed away, dying of cancer before he could even spend a penny of his winnings.
It was just three weeks ago when Donald Savastano collected his winners check, looking well he told reporters he planned to buy a new truck, pay off some of his debts and invest in the future. He said that being self-employed had left him with no retirement plan, and the win would change all that.
However now an obituary published on Sunday states that Savastano died at home last week of stage four cancer. The obituary included special thanks to the hospital, and stated he had been on hospice care for the last few days. Savastano leaves a family. Savastano grew up in Long Island, New York and learned the carpentry trade from his father.
It’s pretty much the worst luck ever and we can’t think of a sadder thing than actually winning the lottery and then dying. The only saving grace is with the winnings collected, Savastano’s family will at least now have some financial security into the future.