Nov. 17 (UPI) — A woman from Michigan who bought her very first Powerball ticket earlier this month ended up winning a jackpot of one million dollars.
When Joni Thompson, age 54, from Stanwood, purchased a Powerball ticket for the drawing on November 8 from the Country Corner Supermarket in Stanwood, she said to the officials from the Michigan Lottery that she believed she had beginner’s luck on her side.
“I had never played Powerball before, but after seeing that the jackpot was over one billion dollars, I decided to buy a ticket,” said Thompson, who had never played the game previously.
“After the drawing, I saw a message on social media about a $1 million reward being won in Mecosta county, so I went to the lottery site to jot down the winning numbers, and then I checked my ticket,” the winner explained.
After some investigation, Thompson found out that she had won a million dollar award.
“I started hyperventilating, yelling, and crying when I discovered I had matched five numbers and was the big winner!
I wanted to make sure that I was reading the information on my lottery ticket correctly, so I asked my son to scan it using his lottery app.
It is difficult to put into words what it is like to win one million dollars; I am still at a loss for words “— I quote her.
Thompson stated that she intends to save some of her profits and use some of them toward the startup costs of her new company.