Shirley Jackson, a caregiver from Stem, is the first player to win $400,000 playing the new The Big $5 Ticket scratch-off game. Having won only small prizes before, she had only dreamt of being a big winner.

Jackson stopped at the Triangle D Food Mart on Creedmoor Road in Stem to buy her daily cup of coffee and lottery tickets before work. After confirming the win with the cashier, Jackson called her son to share the good news. But he thought she was joking.

“I told her, ‘Now don’t be telling no story, mom,’” said Jimmy Jackson Jr. “When she said she wasn’t kidding, I couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘Make sure you counted those zeros right!’”

But Jackson was correct.

“I told him I had counted six zeros,” said Jackson. “I just couldn’t believe I had won with that many zeros!”

Jackson, who’s been working in the health field her whole life, says this win isn’t going to stop her from doing what she loves — taking care of others.

“I retired after 25 years working for the state,” said Jackson. “But then I worked in a nursing home for 25 years and then became a private-duty caregiver, and I am going to work as long as the good lord willing!”

The grandmother of seven and great grandmother of six claimed her prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh with her son by her side. After federal and state tax withholdings, she took home $277,068. She plans to use the winnings to renovate her home of 45 years, share some with her family, and put the rest in savings.

The Big $5 Ticket game started on Tuesday with four top prizes of $400,000. Three top prizes remain.

Ticket sales made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $634 million for the state last year. For details on how over $23.8 million in lottery funds has made a difference in Granville County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.