NC woman scores lottery ticket on her anniversary — and gets another reason to celebrate
A woman hit the jackpot on her wedding anniversary, giving her another reason to celebrate in Eastern North Carolina.
Sadhana Patel was marking 20 years of marriage when she decided to play the Rockin’ Bingo game, the N.C. Education Lottery said Monday in a news release.
It turns out, her ticket beat 1-in-240,000 odds to win big.
“I was shocked,” Patel, a Craven County resident, told lottery officials. “I called my kids first and then I told my husband. We were all happy and shocked at the same time.”
The surprising moment came after Patel tried her luck on a $5 Fast Play lottery ticket in January. She spent the money at a store she owns, U Pick Food Mart in New Bern, roughly 115 miles southeast of Raleigh, officials said.
“I said, ‘I feel like I got something good, so let me scan it,” Patel told the N.C. Education Lottery.
That’s when she realized she won a jackpot prize worth $373,741, officials said. Patel, who kept $264,423 after taxes, said she plans to use her winnings to pay bills and help family.
It’s not the first time a big windfall has coincided with a wedding anniversary in North Carolina.
In January 2020, a couple with a tradition of playing the lottery scored a prize just before celebrating 70 years of marriage, McClatchy News reported.
The year before, officials said a special education teacher won $1 million on his anniversary.
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