OHIO — A Columbus woman is celebrating after winning a $1 million prize from an Ohio Lottery scratch-off ticket, according to the Ohio Lottery.
The winner said she was lying in bed scratching off her Wild Cash Tripler ticket when she realized she had won the game’s top prize of $40,000 a year for 25 years.
“At first, I just stared at it for a few minutes,” the woman said in a statement released by the Ohio Lottery. “This can’t be real.”
She then handed her phone to her husband and began screaming before running downstairs to tell her father about the win.
The winner chose the lump-sum cash option of $500,000 and will receive approximately $366,250 after mandatory state and federal taxes totaling 26.75%, lottery officials said.
She said she plans to use the money to pay off her home and take her family on a cruise next year to celebrate.
The winning ticket was part of the Ohio Lottery’s Wild Cash Tripler scratch-off game, a $30 ticket offering a top prize of up to $3 million. As of May 6, three top prizes of $120,000 a year for 25 years remained in the game, according to the lottery.
The Ohio Lottery said it has contributed more than $34 billion to education since 1974.
