With less than five minutes before Saturday’s Cash 5 drawing, Stephanie Israel of Browns Summit said she felt an urge to buy a lottery ticket, which turned into a $501,544 win.
“It was late at night and I was lying in bed and the spirit just told me to go online and buy one,” Israel said. “There was only four minutes left until the drawing.”
The next morning, she checked her email and saw a notification that she won.
“When I went in and saw it, I screamed for like 20 minutes,” she said. “I think I scared my family a little bit.”
Israel, 39, bought her Quick Pick ticket using Online Play on the lottery’s website, her preferred way to play because of the convenience of it. She arrived at lottery headquarters Monday to collect her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $356,147.
Israel said her family is full of entrepreneurs and she wants to use her winnings to invest in her family’s future.
“We are constantly thinking of new ideas for businesses,” she said. “Our boys already have a landscaping business.”
Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through a retail location or Online Play, either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night. Tuesday’s jackpot is $120,000.
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