Most of  us live a simple life. Middle-class incomes, blue-collar jobs. You work and hope you have your whole life ahead of you. And if you’re lucky, you might have a bit extra to retire on. But sometimes, life throws a wrench in our plans and just when you think you’ve been knocked down for the last time, a miracle happens,

Penny Reep, like all of us, had those same dreams. But the 50-year-old from Pennsylvania was struggling – her husband, Pat, is dying of cancer and had to stop working. Penny was taking care of him. But then came a miracle she never expected.

Penny Reep, 50, poses with husband, left, alongside Reep’s ‘check’. Photo by Newsflash

Penny said she was on the way to the dentist and stopped in at the Rummy Mart convenience store. She would buy lottery tickets from time-to-time and wanted “to exchange some winning tickets.” And as always, bought a few more scratch-off tickets. One was called ‘$3 Million Diamonds and Gold’. 

It was a winner. “I scratched the $30 ticket and thought, ‘I’m not seeing this right,'” Penny said. but then it hit her – she had won millions. “I grabbed the counter and started crying,” she said.

I had chest pain and it felt like my feet were coming out from underneath of me.”

Penny, with her husband along with her, went and claimed her winnings a few days later. Her biggest plan with the money, she said, was to take Pat on a trip to Alaska. “It was always a pipe dream,” Penny said. “Now, I’m going to be able to give him everything he’s always wanted.”

Pat was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. It was found in 2021, when he had sought treatment for a hernia and instead, doctors found a football-sized tumor. Despite removing it, the cancer was too aggressive. “We don’t know how long we have with him,” Penny said. “He’s no longer able to work and I’ve been trying to take care of him, but I’m also having health problems.”

Penny and Pat Reep wait at the Pennsylvania Lottery Office. Photo by Newsflash

But now the couple have a bright spot on the horizon – travel plans that also include a visit to see their grandchildren in Massachusetts, they said. Friends of the pair told reporters that Penny and Pat had spent all of their lives trying to help others. For Penny, this is just another chance to do that, as well.

“It’s been a true struggle mentally, physically, financially, emotionally,” she said, “and now we’re actually able to help give back again to people that helped us through our roughest time.” Penny said that despite winning millions, they will not change. “We are going to stay the same people,” she said. “We will continue living in our house and invest the money, but now we will have memories for a lifetime,” Penny said, smiling. Watch Penny and Pat’s amazing story, below.

Sources: People | CBS | USA Times