Drive to store for Diet Mountain Dew ends with NC woman winning Powerball prize
A woman craving Diet Mountain Dew added a Powerball ticket to her order at the last second and won a six-figure prize, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.
Rose Anderson bought the $3 Quick Pick ticket at the Quality Mart convenience store and gas station in Southern Pines, about 70 miles southwest of Raleigh, officials said.
“I didn’t plan to stop there that day, but I remembered I was out of Diet Mountain Dew,” Anderson said in a Nov. 16 news release. “I guess I have my thirst to thank.”
Her ticket numbers matched four white balls and the red Powerball to win $50,000. Her prize doubled to $100,000 thanks to a “2X multiplier hit,” the state reports.
“I was speechless,” Anderson said in the release. “I just literally sat there looking at (the ticket) for a while.”
She picked up her prize at the state lottery office Wednesday, Nov. 15, and decided to split it with her fiancé, Newton McCurdey Jr.
That meant each got $35,625 after tax with holdings, officials said.
Anderson said she’ll use her share to pay bills, then offer financial support to “some people that I know who need some help.”
The next Powerball drawing is Saturday, Nov. 18, and “offers a $280 million jackpot, or $128.6 million as a lump sum,” the state says. Odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292 million.
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