Lottery ticket given as present worth $1.3 million
An American woman bought her sister a lottery ticket for Mother’s Day that ended up being a $1.3 million jackpot winner.
Vielka Roman went out to dinner with her sister, Neris, last Sunday in Autryville, North Carolina and afterward bought her sister a Carolina Cash 5 lottery ticket.
The next day, Vielka’s fiancee Al checked the numbers online as they drove up to the mountains for a vacation – and could not believe what he saw.
The ticket was worth $1,354,174, the third largest Carolina Cash 5 win in history.
In a statement, Al said: ‘I was looking at the app on the phone and saw confetti burst.’
Al checked the numbers five times to make sure they were real. After realizing what they had won, the couple headed straight for the state’s lottery headquarters to claim the massive prize.
Vielka said her sister was the first person she called – so they could claim the prize together. Neris said: ‘I think everyone would like to have a sister like her. She has always been there for me. And when she won, she said to me, “If I win, then you also win.”‘
The $1,354,174 jackpot is the third largest in Carolina Cash 5 history. After state and federal taxes, Vielka ended up taking home $958,078.
She said she plans to pay off her house and car, as well as help her sister and children with the money.
Al told ABC 11: ‘(Vielka) has a heart of gold. She’s going to help out the family. We’re going to pay off the house completely. Pay off her car.’
Vielka said: ‘We just moved here, just bought a house. It will be nice to have room to breathe. Neris can have more time to plant in her garden. We will be able to spend more time with each other as a family.’