A Massachusetts hospital worker has claimed the $758.7 million Powerball jackpot, and says she always thought winning the lottery was “a pipe dream.”
Fifty-three-year-old Mavis L. Wanczyk, of Chicopee, says she was leaving work at night with a Chicopee firefighter, and they were discussing Powerball.
That’s when she realized she won. She says her friend followed her home to make sure she got there safely.
WATCH: Mavis Wanczyk of Chicopee, MA announced as Powerball lotto winner
Wanczyk says the first thing she wants to do is sit back and relax. She says she has called work to let them know she won’t be back.
Wanczyk has two adult children, a daughter and a son.
Lottery officials say she chose to take a lump sum payment of $480 million, or $336 million after taxes.
WATCH: Powerball winner’s plan for what to do with the money? ‘Hide in bed’
A store in Chicopee sold the only ticket that won the jackpot. It’s the largest grand prize won by a single lottery ticket in U.S. history.
The Chicopee store will receive $50,000 for selling the winning ticket.
Lottery officials had initially said a different store, near Boston, had sold the winning ticket. That store actually sold a ticket that won $1 million.
WATCH: Ongoing coverage of the Powerball Lottery
The error by the Massachusetts State Lottery over which store sold the lone winning Powerball ticket is being blamed on nerves.
Michael Sweeney, the lottery’s executive director, tells WBZ-AM they had a “couple of excited people at 1 o’clock in the morning” but said if there’s any blame to be placed, the buck stops with him.
The lottery initially said a convenience store in Watertown had sold the winning ticket. A few hours later, it announced it had made a mistake, and that the winning ticket was sold across the state at the Pride Station & Store in Chicopee, in Western Massachusetts.
Sweeney says the lottery had not yet heard from the winner.
He said the Chicopee store will receive $50,000 for selling the winning ticket, he said.
He said the store in Watertown did sell a ticket that won a $1 million prize.