On the way down to the final Vancouver Giants home game of the season last Friday, Barbara Parker and her family fantasized about the possibility of winning the new Honda the team was giving away that night.

"If we win the car, we'll drive it home," the Coquitlam mother of two joked.

Little did she realize just how prophetic the discussion on the car ride to the game would be.

A few hours later, Parker was on the ice at the Pacific Coliseum with a key to a new Honda Accord in her hand.

It wasn't hers quite yet.

After a series of contests to whittle a dozen participants down to two, Parker and another woman were left vying for the new car.

The two women each had a key in their hand. Whomever's key sets off the panic button took the car.

The dedicated season ticket holder pressed the button first, but nothing happened.

She figured she had had a good run, but it wasn't meant to be.

But when the other woman's key failed to go off, Parker tried again.

She held it down and this time, it went off.

"It was very exciting," Parker told The NOW.

She wasn't just thrilled to win the car - it was also emotional.

Parker hasn't really had much good luck recently.

She has been battling breast cancer, a disease she fortunately caught early on.

Parker's been through five rounds of chemotherapy and still has radiation treatment and surgery to deal with.

Her prognosis is good, but her fight will keep her away from her work at an orthodontist office for at least a year.

In the meantime, she doesn't have any health benefits while on leave.

As much as she'd love to keep the car, the family just bought a new one last year.

Instead, she plans to sell the new car and use some of the money to pay for the expensive chemo drugs she needs to get better.

"It's a huge bonus," Parker said, giving a big thanks to the Vancouver Giants organization.

"It was nice to have some good news come my way for once."

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jdeutsch@thenownews.com