Things are really looking up for Geraldine Gimblet, a mother from Florida who claimed the US$2 million top prize on a scratch lottery ticket, according to a Friday press release.
Gimblet was already celebrating a major family milestone when she bought the lottery ticket – just one day before, her daughter completed her last round of cancer treatments.
Gimblet was joined by her daughter and granddaughter when she arrived at the Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee to claim her winnings. Her daughter broke down in tears when she recounted how her mother had taken out her life savings to help pay for her cancer treatments.
“The day before my mom bought this ticket, I rang the bell and walked out of the hospital after completing my last treatment for breast cancer,” her daughter told the Florida Lottery.
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“My mom had taken out her life savings to take care of me when I was sick,” she added. “I’m just so happy for her!”
The lucky winner bought her ticket at the Pipkin Road Beverage Castle in Lakeland, Fla. The convenience store will receive a US$2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, the lottery said.
But Gimblet shared that she almost walked out of the store that day without a ticket.
“At first the gas station clerk thought there were no tickets left, but I asked him to double check because I like the crossword games the best,” Gimblet told the Florida Lottery. “He found the last one!”
Gimblet is taking her winnings in a one-time, lump-sum payment of US$1,645,000 (about $2.1 million).
The crossword scratch-off ticket that Gimblet bought has eight top prizes of US$2 million and 20 secondary prizes of US$100,000.
The Florida Lottery says it has made more than 3,500 millionaires since the lottery began in 1988. It has paid out more than US$85.8 billion in prizes.