A million-dollar lotto winner has told how she was so terrified her jackpot might be a mistake she stayed up all night.
Amazed Heather Hancock, 47 – from the community of Parrish, Manatee County, Florida State, USA – said she couldn’t risk going to sleep until she could check with lottery officials in the morning.
Heather has splashed out USD 50 (GBP 39) on a single scratchcard.
She said in a statement obtained by Newsflash from Florida Lottery: “I couldn’t believe it.
“I kept looking at my number and the matching number at the top, thinking, ‘Is this real?’ I didn’t sleep at all last night!”
Heather – who collected her prize on 15th August – said she had bought her winning ticket at the local Rose Park Deli convenience store.
She reportedly took home USD 650,000 (GBP 500,896) after choosing to receive the prize as a one-time lump sum payment.
Lottery officials revealed that the retailer will receive a USD 2,000 (GBP 1,565) bonus for selling the winning ticket.
They added: “The USD 50 [GBP 39] Scratch-Off game, $1,000,000 A YEAR FOR LIFE SPECTACULAR launched in February and features two top prizes of USD 1 million [GBP 782,820] a year for life and 234 prizes of USD 1 million [GBP 782,820]!
“This game also features more than USD 1.6 billion [GBP 1.2 billion] in cash prizes. The game’s overall odds of winning are 1-in-4.50.”
“Scratch-Off games are an important part of the Lottery’s portfolio of games, comprising approximately 72 percent of ticket sales in fiscal year 2022-2023.
“Additionally, since inception, Scratch-Off games have awarded more than USD 57.1 billion [GBP 44,7 billion] in prizes, created 1,802 millionaires, and generated more than USD 17.77 billion [GBP 13,9 billion] for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF).”
