Mom thinks she won $5,000, then her son helps her realize it was much more. ‘No, mom!’
A mother won a much larger Iowa lottery prize than she originally believed — and her son helped her realize it.
Zondra Pruitt, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, originally thought she won $5,000 with the $50,000 Super Crossword scratch-off ticket she purchased at a Hy-Vee grocery store. Players try to complete up to 10 words in the puzzle with a given set of letters.
The 57-year-old mother thought she had completed nine words, but her son noticed one extra.
“My son’s like, ‘No, mom! You’ve got 10 words. You won $50,000,’” Pruitt said.
She scanned the ticket on the Iowa Lottery app, confirming the jackpot win.
Odds of winning the $50,000 prize are 1-in-119,660.57 There are 105 top prizes in the game, and Pruitt’s was the 36th jackpot claimed.
“My mind just went blank,” she told lottery officials. “I think the most I’ve won on a scratch-off is $100. I just do them for fun, and it’s like, ‘Wow!’ I didn’t know what to think or what to say. I double-checked it like three, four times.”
Pruitt said she initially fought the urge to wake up her husband to tell him the good news, but it didn’t last long.
“He got up at like 4:30 in the morning to let the dogs out,” she said. “I didn’t let him go back to bed. I’m like, ‘Babe! Look! Look! Look!’”
The winner said she will meet with financial professionals and invest her winnings.
Council Bluffs is about 5 miles east of Omaha, Nebraska.
Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
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