MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. – A North Carolina woman battling breast cancer hit the jackpot Wednesday, and her reaction to winning the lottery was fantastic.

Gina Short dropped to the floor after walking into the North Carolina Lottery’s Charlotte office.  The breast cancer patient was overcome by emotion, and according to the lottery’s website said, “I have a second chance. That’s what my whole life is about, second chances.”

Short’s entry was drawn from more than 1.2 million entries in the drawing, coincidentally the prize is referred to as the “Ultimate Millions Second-Chance.”

“If you would have told me, in a million years I still wouldn’t have believed you,” Short said. “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, who was diagnosed six years ago, says she’ll face additional cancer treatments and sees the money as a blessing that will help her “truly live.”

She chose the lump sum payment of $600,000, of which she’ll keep $415,000 after taxes.  Her other option was a $1 million annuity of 20 payments of $50,000.

Short accepted the check with her husband Len at her side.  “I might have gone through the breast cancer, but this is the guy that told me not to run,” Short said. “I wanted to give up, but he would not let me give up.”