A lucky woman in the USA has scooped USD 200,000 on a lottery scratchcard that her husband had picked from the store because it stood out from the pile.
Linda Benefiel from the town of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina State, USA, said it felt surreal seeing USD 200,000 (GBP 163,937) on the Lightning 7’s scratchcard.
The lucky lady said in a statement obtained by Newsflash from North Carolina Education Lottery: “It was surreal and just overwhelming. We’re still in awe.”
Linda explained how her husband bought the instant ticket at the local Chalybeate Store and gave it to her after she came back home from a stressful day at work on Monday, 2nd October.
She said: “My honey bought it for me. He said for some reason that one stood out to him.”
Once she started scratching it and uncovered the amazing amount of money, she reportedly instantly yelled at him to come and take a look.
Linda added: “He got so excited and said, ‘We won USD 200 [GBP 163]?’ I told him, ‘No, we won USD 200,000 [GBP 163,937]. Next thing I know we were both crying.”
The couple took home USD 142,501 (GBP 116,776) after state and federal taxes upon visiting lottery headquarters on Wednesday, 4th October.
Benefiel said: “We decided we are going to pay off our mortgage. It’s such a wonderful feeling.”
North Carolina Education Lottery officials said: “The Lightning 7’s game debuted in June with six USD 200,000 [GBP 163,937] top prizes.
“Three USD 200,000 [GBP 163,937] prizes remain to be claimed.
“Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise USD 2.8 million [GBP 2.3 million] a day on average for education.
“Harnett County received a USD 10 million [GBP 8.1 million] state grant, with money raised by the lottery, to help build a new elementary school.”
