Woman Won $100K Prize After Buying Wrong Lottery Ticket, Then Disaster Almost Struck When She Forgot to Put Her Car in Park

Although the lucky winner was initially upset, her lottery story had a happy ending

NEED TO KNOW

• An Ohio woman won a $100,000 lottery prize on Friday the 13th
• However, she initially thought she was unlucky after accidentally buying the Mega Millions ticket instead of her usual Powerball ticket
• Then, on the day of the draw, huge wind gusts knocked out the internet, which left her unable to check her numbers right away

An Ohio woman had a few brushes with bad luck when she won big on a Friday the 13th lottery drawing.

The Sheffield Village resident, who ended up winning a $100,000 lottery prize, told Ohio Lottery officials she was initially upset at herself for accidentally buying a Mega Millions ticket rather than her typical Powerball ticket.

Then, on the day of the draw, Friday, March 13, huge wind gusts knocked out the internet, which left her unable to check her numbers right away. When she finally could the following night, she realized she won big.

The winning numbers were 6-19-36-40-55+9, according to lottery officials. The woman matched four white balls plus the mega ball which made her the 1 in 893,761 person to win $10,000. But thanks to the 10x multiplier, she actually won a $100,000 prize.

That night, she could barely sleep, telling lottery officials she kept checking her numbers just to make sure nothing had changed.

Her stupor lasted into her visit to the Ohio Lottery regional office to claim her prize when she forgot to put her car in park and started to get out of her vehicle. Fortunately, she caught her mistake in time.

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On the whole, the woman said that “all the stars were aligned” for her to turn a seemingly unlucky purchase into the win of a lifetime: $73,250 after federal and state taxes.

With her winnings, the woman — who is on fixed income — said she will pay her bills, support her grandchildren, pay off her car and contribute to her savings.

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Mega Millions drawings, a national lottery game, are held at 11:00pm EST on Tuesdays and Fridays.

If you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling problem, please contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network at 1-800-522-4700 or go to gamtalk.org.

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