She thought she won a $5 lottery prize — then the ‘unbelievable’ happened in SC
A woman thought she won $5 — but ended up much richer in South Carolina.
She was checking her lottery ticket when she found out it was worth $250,000, the S.C. Education Lottery said on Tuesday, Nov. 16.
“Am I dreaming?” she said as her family took another look at the scratch-off.
It turns out, the windfall was real, allowing the woman to keep $172,500 after taxes.
“I’m debt free,” she said in a news release. “It is unbelievable.”
The winner took home the extra cash after stopping at a Circle K in Boiling Springs. At the Spartanburg-area convenience store, officials said she spent $5 on a ticket for the Giant Jumbo Bucks game.
The scratch-off she bought beat 1-in-960,000 odds to score her big prize. Days after claiming the money, the winner told lottery officials she had paid off her house.
“I’d never won anything before,” said the woman, who wasn’t identified in the S.C. Education Lottery’s news release.
It’s not the first time someone’s luck has taken a turn.
Over the summer, officials said a South Carolina man stopped checking his lottery tickets after several of them didn’t win. Then his dog found another ticket that hit the jackpot.
And in January, a North Carolina man found out he scored a $2 million prize after he got into a car crash, McClatchy News reported.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 3:16 PM with the headline "She thought she won a $5 lottery prize — then the ‘unbelievable’ happened in SC."
