Able To Afford Doctor Visit After Winning $1M Scratch-Off, Man Dies 23 Days Later

BINGHAMTON, New York (WJZ) -- On January 4, Donald Savastano claimed a $661,800 lump sum after winning a $1 million New York lottery scratch-off ticket.

"This is gonna change our lives, to tell you the truth," he told local media at the time. He said he wanted to put some money away for retirement, buy a new truck and maybe take a vacation.

But less than three weeks later, on Jan. 26, he died of cancer.

WBNG-TV, a CBS station in Binghamton, reports that Savastano also used some of his winnings to see a doctor, something he couldn't afford to do before. His obituary says he was a self-employed carpenter.

The doctor diagnosed him with Stage 4 cancer.

Savastano, 51, was laid to rest Wednesday.

He is survived by his longtime girlfriend, Julie Wheeler, and her sons, Alex and Kaspar Gray; his mother, Annette Savastano Dart (James); four brothers, John, Charles, Louis and Doug Savastano and their families; two sisters, Debbie Legat and Cindy Savastano and their families.

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