Woman wins big Iowa lottery prize — and can’t believe it. ‘I had a hard time sleeping’
An Iowa woman won big on a lottery scratch-off ticket, leaving her in disbelief.
“I had a hard time sleeping last night,” Sandra Stepanek said in a Nov. 14 news release from the Iowa Lottery.
The West Branch woman played the “$30,000 Crossword” scratch game. She said at first, she couldn’t believe she won.
“I was having my hubby count how many words I had,” she said. “I thought I had eight, but I had 10. And then I about flipped. So then we drove to Tipton to check my ticket and make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.”
Stepanek won $30,000, which was the 35th top prize in the game. In total, the game has 151 $30,000 top prizes.
She says she will use her winnings to pay off a loan and add to her savings account, the release said.
“I’ll be pretty much debt-free except for my car,” she said.
West Branch is about 30 miles southeast of Cedar Rapids.
This story was originally published November 16, 2023 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Woman wins big Iowa lottery prize — and can’t believe it. ‘I had a hard time sleeping’."
