Lottery-winning cancer survivor writes life story

A woman who survived bowel cancer and then won £1m on the lottery has written a book about her "rollercoaster" life story.

Desiree Home, from Maidstone in Kent, was diagnosed with stage three cancer in 2008, then six years later won the EuroMillions jackpot on the National Lottery.

Ms Home said she died twice from respiratory failure in hospital and both she and her husband lost their jobs.

She said she would "continue to grab every moment and live life as well and as thoroughly as I can”.

Ms Home was 50 when she was diagnosed with bowel cancer which required invasive surgery and chemotherapy.

She described the years that followed as "a catalogue of horror for the whole family".

She said: "With absolutely no money and mounting debts we had no choice but to sell our forever home and move away into a small mobile home.

"I think you can safely say, we’d hit rock bottom. And then it all changed."

The lottery win in 2014 changed everything, she added.

She said: “I can remember that moment when I realised that we could rebuild some of what we had lost and that the Desiree rollercoaster of life was rolling again.”

Ms Home said she decided that day that she would write her life story.

The self-published book, And Then, is a bucket list item she has been able to achieve since the lottery win.

She said: "If it helps just one other person to keep hope I shall be overjoyed and to share that even in the depth of despair there really can be hope.

"We really don’t know what is around the corner on the rollercoaster of life, so I shall continue to grab every moment and live it as well and as thoroughly as I can.”

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