A North Carolina mother got emotional when she won a life-changing amount of money from a lottery ticket.
Maria Baquiran Moreno entered one of her scratch-off tickets in the state’s Feb. 7 second-chance lottery drawing, according to a Feb. 13 North Carolina Education Lottery news release. Then, the Greensboro resident got a phone call that would change everything: she had won the drawing’s grand prize, lottery officials said.
“I always tell people to do the second chance because you never know,” Moreno said in the release. “I’m the walking example of that.”
The lottery told her she had won $1 million, according to the release.
“I was sobbing,” she said in the release. “It was overwhelming.”
Moreno enjoys playing scratch-offs and keeping her tickets for second-chance drawings, she told lottery officials. But she never expected to win such a large amount off one.
“When I started crying my kids thought something was wrong,” Moreno said with a laugh.
Given the choice to receive a lump sum of $600,000 or $50,000 every year for two decades, Moreno chose to get the lump sum, lottery officials said. After taxes, her total winnings came out to $429,000.
Now she will use the money to pay off her mortgage and potentially plan a family trip to Japan, lottery officials said.
Moreno won the top prize for the $10 Million Spectacular Second Chance drawing, lottery officials said. The next drawing — the second of four — will be July 3, according to lottery officials.
Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
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.
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