Winning a big lottery prize is something to celebrate. However, imagine the heartbreak if you then lose that winning ticket, especially if it’s worth $532,234.
That’s what happened to Ana Maya from Graham in North Carolina, USA. Her big win came last September when playing the Carolina Cash 5 draw. The 32-year-old purchased a ticket from the Huff’s Interstate in Burlington. Rather than choosing her own numbers, a Quick Pick ticket was bought.
She didn’t claim her winnings right away and then moved house. Now it can get a bit hectic when you do that. There’s always something that seems to go missing but for this woman, it was the winning lottery ticket.
When she began to unpack at her new home it was nowhere to be found. Ana had until March 6 to find the ticket and claim her prize. If that hadn’t happened, half the amount would have gone to the lottery’s education fund and the other half back into the prize fund.
Thankfully, that’s not going to happen as finally the ticket was found. As Maya explained to lottery officials, it’s been a rather worrying time. “These last couple of months have been very stressful trying to find it,” Maya said and added, “I totally forgot where I put it.”
When something does go missing, it tends to be found in the most unlikely place. For Maya, her ticket was discovered inside one of her old High School notebooks. “I was very, very relieved when I finally found it,” she said. “That was the last place I would have looked.”
Now that her ticket has been found, Maya has claimed her winnings and has received $346,005 after paying state and federal taxes. She plans on using her windfall to make investments go on holiday, pay off bills and put some aside for her two children.
Perhaps this lottery winner should have done what Pamela Lunsford from Rosman in North Carolina did last December. She was lucky enough to win a $100,000 scratchcard prize and found a unique way of ensuring it wasn’t lost.
60-year-old Pamela simply took the scratchcard and taped it onto her leg. Her logic for this seems pretty good. “I can lose a purse or a book bag, but I can’t lose my leg,” she said. It was her lucky day for playing scratchcards.
The first of her three purchases won $100, the second won another $30. Then, she scratched off the final one (a Winter Winnings game) and that won $100,000. After paying taxes, Pamela received $70,756.
