Woman picking up prescription buys lottery ticket — and wins a life-changing jackpot

Marie Edwards was picking up a prescription at CVS in Virginia when she decided to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket.

It paid off.

The Stafford County woman scratched the $1 Million Spectacular ticket the next day and won the $1 million jackpot, the Virginia Lottery said in a Nov. 28 news release.

“It’s something you always hope will happen, but you don’t really think will happen,” she told lottery officials.

Edwards beat the 1-in-1,224,000 odds of winning a top prize when she landed one of three jackpots available in the game, according to the release.

Edwards chose to receive a one-time payment of $571,000 before tax instead of the full $1 million over the course of 30 years.

“It feels fantastic and unbelievable!” she told lottery officials.

One more top prize remains in the game, alongside other smaller wins. The $10 game debuted in June.

“All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 education in Virginia,” lottery officials said. “Stafford County received more than $16.2 million in Lottery funds for K-12 education last fiscal year.”

Stafford County is on the Virginia-Maryland state line about 40 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published November 29, 2023 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Woman picking up prescription buys lottery ticket — and wins a life-changing jackpot."