Woman's joy as she scoops huge jackpot on husband's birthday after quick stop
A lucky woman has had two reasons to celebrate after she scooped an incredible lottery jackpot on her husband's birthday while making a "quick stop" at the shop.
46-year-old Kristin Murawski said her husband's "jaw dropped" when she told him she had hit the winning numbers. Originally from Washtenaw County in Michigan State, she won $288,903 (£226,026) on the Fantasy 5 draw on Friday, July 21.
In total, she ended up matching all five numbers: 21, 23, 25, 34, and 38. She'd bought her winning ticket at the Red Party Store in Willis, about 25 miles south of Ann Arbor, while out shopping on her husband, Scott's, birthday.
Kristin said: "I like to play Fantasy 5 when the jackpot gets over $150,000. We made a quick stop at Red's and I saw the jackpot was way past $150,000 so I grabbed a ticket.
"It was my husband Scott's, birthday so we stopped at our neighbour's house on the way home to celebrate. While we were there, my brother-in-law texted my husband the winning numbers.
'I'm spending £20k on a new bathroom - but won't help my brother out with cash'"As I was looking at them I kept yelling 'I think we hit! I think we hit!' My husband looked at the ticket and his jaw dropped."
Kristin said she plans to use her winnings to enjoy retirement. She told Michigan Lottery: "Winning this jackpot is life-changing and makes our lives easier.
"It means an earlier retirement for my husband and less worry about how we'll make ends meet once we're both retired."
She visited Lottery headquarters recently to claim the big prize. She's hoping to use some of the money to pay off student loans and then invest some as well.
Fantasy 5 players can select from a few different ways to play. Easy pick allows players to pay $5, $10, or $15, at $1 per ticket to have their numbers randomly selected.
Players can also pick their own numbers, selecting five from one to 39. Players can combo their numbers, selecting six to 10 numbers from one to 39 to generate tickets with every combination of numbers they selected. Or they can play online using numbers from a previously saved set of tickets.
Players can also use Double Play to use their numbers in a second drawing immediately following the regular Fantasy 5 drawing for their chance to win additional prizes up to $110,000.
Last month, another lucky winner scooped the lottery just hours after popping the question to his partner. Nick Miller, 31, from Bernard City, told officials that his partner, Lauren Timmerman, accepted his marriage proposal on the evening of June 22.
The next morning, Nick and his brother stopped for breakfast at a Casey's convenience store in Cascade City, Iowa. Already over the moon at his now-fiancée agreeing to marry him hours earlier, the groom-to-be then scooped a jackpot of $390,191 (£304,516).
The cash prize had been growing for more than two months before NIck's numbers came up. He said: "I'm ready for the next parts of life, I guess. There is the wedding and a house to start doing some work on."
'My sister tried to wear a wedding dress to my engagement party - I got revenge'