Penny Reep poses with her $3 million check after winning a PA Lottery scratch off ticket. Submitted Photo

Penny Reep, 50, walked into the Rummy Mart in Chicora on Monday, Oct. 16, and did something she used to do more regularly, before her husband, Pat, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

She played the lottery.

When she started to make out the numbers on the $30 Diamonds and Gold ticket, she could hardly breathe.

Her body “went to Jell-O,” said the resident of Parker, Armstrong County.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that must not be right,’” Reep said. “My eyes are not seeing right.”

Never in a million years did she expect to win $3 million, she said.

But she did — the very next moment, Reep called her husband to share the news, and then gave the owner of the Rummy Mart a hug.

“I was alone, and the owner, Sharon, was at the table talking to somebody,” Reep said. “I said, ‘Can I interrupt you for a minute? Can I please give you a hug?’ She goes, ‘Tell me what’s the matter,’ and I whispered in her ear, ‘I won $3 million!’”

“(The owner) knows my story,” she said. “She knows my husband’s battle (with cancer).”

At home, she said she hugged Pat, and told him, “We’re gonna be OK.”

In 2021, her husband was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma. A year ago, he had surgery that removed a tumor the size of a football, Reep said. Other than pain management, Reep said Pat couldn’t undergo any more treatment unless another tumor appeared.

“He has good days and bad days,” she said. “He’s in a lot of pain.”

Pat has had to quit his job in road construction due to his illness, she said. Reep’s health issues, including a brain cyst, also prevent her from working. For some time, the couple relied on Pat’s disability money, and kept afloat through the generosity of friends and family, who Reep described as close-knit.

With the $3 million, Reep said the family will be able to cover the medical expenses that are “excruciating” and that insurance doesn’t cover, and experience things they’d never otherwise be able to afford in their lifetime, she said.

“I’m waiting to be woken up, and for someone to say, ‘OK, dream’s over,’” Reep said. “It doesn’t seem real, let alone in a small little town.”

Reep said she has never given much thought to what she would do if she won the lottery, but said she is excited to be able to fulfill her husband’s wishes.

“We’re gonna make memories and live like normal people, but with a couple of luxurious things,” Reep said.

On Pat’s bucket list is a visit to Alaska.

“It’s something he has always dreamed about,” she said. “He’s always talking about the Alaska shows on TV, how beautiful it is.”