‘Life-changing’ lottery prize leaves NC woman in tears. ‘Cried all the way home’
A North Carolina lottery player won a prize so big, it left her in tears, officials said.
“I think I cried all the way home,” Cynthia Neely said after learning she won $723,755.
But Neely didn’t realize she was getting richer at first. She originally thought someone else had scored the six-figure jackpot prize, the N.C. Education Lottery wrote in a July 24 news release.
“When I got in the truck and saw my first ticket said the jackpot was back to $20,000, I thought, ‘Oh darn, somebody already won the jackpot,’” Neely said.
That’s when Neely looked at her tickets again and realized she was mistaken.
“I had to convince myself that I had the winning ticket,” Neely told lottery officials. “It is a life-changing amount of money.”
Neely celebrated her emotional win after she went to a Kangaroo Express convenience store in Rockwell, roughly 40 miles northeast of Charlotte. While there, officials said she spent $10 on her lucky ticket of the Jackpot 7’s Fast Play game.
Neely, who is from the Gold Hill area of Rowan County, kept $515,678 after taxes. She reportedly “plans to give some money to her church, invest, and possibly take a trip with her husband.”
“I’m going to try to talk my husband into retiring soon,” Neely said.
It’s not the first time a North Carolina lottery player has burst into tears. Recently, two emotional winners planned to share their prize money with their family members, McClatchy News reported.
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Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
This story was originally published July 24, 2023 at 10:14 AM with the headline "‘Life-changing’ lottery prize leaves NC woman in tears. ‘Cried all the way home’."
