Chicago woman wins $552 million jackpot, largest online lottery prize in the country
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A Chicago woman has won more than $550 million through the iLottery app last week, making her the largest winner in the mobile lottery’s history.
The winner, who requested to remain anonymous, said she had been going through her emails June 4 when she saw one from the lottery informing her that she had won that day’s drawing — and the prize was the largest won by a mobile winner in the country. It was also the second-largest prize in Illinois lottery history and ninth-largest Mega Millions jackpot prize ever.
“In the past, I’ve won $2 here or $5 there, so I assumed it would be similar,” she said. “You can’t imagine my shock and disbelief when I saw that I had won the jackpot amount of $552 million. I actually quit the app and then signed back in to double-check and make sure it was real. It was real alright, but it still feels unreal.”
The winning numbers were 19, 37, 40, 63, 69 and 17.
The winner is also now the second person to win a Mega Millions jackpot in Illinois in two years. Two years ago, two people split $1.337 billion, the largest prize ever won in Illinois, after purchasing a ticket at a Speedway convenience store in Des Plaines.
The overall odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350. More than $28 million in tickets were sold.
“I was raised by a single mom and throughout my childhood, she had to work two jobs to provide for our family to put food on the table, and for us to get an education,” she said. “I’ve spent my life as a laborer and once I was making a decent living, I asked my mom to retire and let me take care of her. It was my way of thanking her for how much she sacrificed for us. I haven’t told her yet about this life-changing windfall, but when that time comes, we’re all going to be shedding some happy tears.”
The winner says retirement is now a safe bet.
“I’ve always dreamed of retiring early and enjoying life with my family. I think it’s safe to say my dream just came true,” she said.
