Woman fighting cancer wins $1 million in the lottery

For Gina Short, winning a million dollars in the first Ultimate Millions second chance drawing means a fresh start as she continues her fight against breast cancer.

The North Carolina Education Lottery posted a video to Twitter of her surprised reaction and collapsing to the floor after hearing the news.

Short's entry was drawn by more than 1.2 million entries and she learned about her huge win during a visit to lotto's Charlotte regional office.

She said she had a hard time believing her good luck and that winning the prize means a lot to her because of her cancer diagnosis six years ago.

She claimed her prize with her husband Len by her side, as he has been during multiple surgeries and treatments.

Short chose the lump sum payment and after the tax withholdings received more than $415,000.

Short told FOX 35: "I have a second chance. That's what my whole life is about, second chances."

She added: "If you would have told me, in a million years I still wouldn't have believed you.

"I would have said, 'No you've got the wrong girl,' because that's what I said to them when they told me I had cancer, 'No you've got the wrong girl.'"

Short also paid tribute to her husband Len, saying: "I might have gone through the breast cancer, but this is the guy that told me not to run.

"I wanted to give up, but he would not let me give up."