Angela Forney of Spindale celebrated her birthday a week late with a $533,035 Cash 5 jackpot win.
“For my 48th birthday, it was just amazing,” she said. “I hit exactly seven days after my 48th birthday.”
Forney purchased her winning Quick Pick ticket for Monday’s drawing from Sai Mart on South Main Street in Rutherfordton.
“It’s just a dollar ticket and I happened to have a few in my pocket,” she said. “I just said, ‘I’m gonna try my luck on a dollar, a dollar won’t break me.’”
Tuesday morning, as Forney was getting ready for work, she decided to check her ticket.
“The first three numbers were right and the last two numbers were right and I couldn’t believe it,” she recalled. “I’m like, ‘This ain’t real, this is an old ticket.’ But it was — It was real.”
Forney claimed her prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, she took home $377,123.
She says she views her big win as a birthday present. “A car is my main purchase right now,” she said. “And when the weather warms up, I’ll look into buying a house.”
Carolina Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night. Thursday’s jackpot is $122,000.
Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through Online Play either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.
Login to leave a comment.