$1M sweepstakes winner almost misses prize after refusing to come to the door

The Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes prize patrol team was excited to deliver its latest $1 million cheque, but getting winner Cecilia Fuller to step outside her house proved quite the challenge.

The team arrived in Syracuse, N.Y., on Monday and spent more than an hour outside Fuller’s house — in the rain, no less — rapping on her doors and windows trying to coax her outside.

Prize patrol employees Howie Guja and Fahlon Brown told news outlet Local SYR that they were about to throw in the towel when Fuller finally poked her head out the door and was shocked to see she had won.

“We got a million dollars for you. I’m not playing around, we’re from Publishers Clearing House,” said Guja of the moment Fuller finally opened the door. “This is really real, we were just about to give up and come back later.”

Guja explained to ABC50 that the prize patrol team members never inform winners in advance that they’ll be showing up at doors, meaning it’s always a bit of a gamble when they show up to deliver a prize.

“We’re here to give away one million dollars. It’s always a happy day for the winner and we never know what’s going to happen. It’s a lot of excitement,” Guja said. “There are a bunch of cars in the driveway — it doesn’t mean somebody’s going to be home — but fingers crossed.”

Still, the team’s persistence and patience paid off.

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“A neighbour named Amanda eventually told us she was certain that Cecilia was inside,” PCH posted on Facebook, adding that Fuller eventually came to the door “in complete and total shock.”

The prize came on what is otherwise a sad day for Fuller.

According to Local SYR, the million dollars came on the 30th anniversary of her mother’s death. She also told ABC50 that she’s been struggling since her husband’s passing in 2020, and the money will help restore water and heat to her home and allow her to attend to some repairs to the house that she was unable to afford.

Fuller said she didn’t come to the door initially because she wasn’t feeling well and thought it might be a scam.

PCH has been running its sweepstakes since 1967, after founder Harold Mertz started offering the prize giveaway as a way to increase magazine subscription sales.

Fuller said she’s been entering the sweepstakes for years and made it part of her morning routine in 2017 when her father died.

“Maybe I’ll take a little break, but it’s probably because it’s been such a habit. Like, I just do it at this point, so maybe I’ll just keep doing it, and it doesn’t cost anything. It’s one of those things where you hope and think positive but in the back of your mind you think, ‘Well, that hardly ever happens,’ but it does happen,” Fuller told Local SYR of her future plans with the contest.

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