Lottery winner says jackpot was 'work of God'
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A lottery winner says winning the jackpot is part of God's plan after she found her ticket in the bin.
Mary Elliott included her dead son's birthday in picking her lucky numbers which have landed her a cool £75,000.
Cashing in her winnings was not so straightforward however as she had accidentally thrown away her ticket which she and her husband eventually recovered stained with coffee.
Mary, 67, from Dillwyn, Virginia had not played the state's Cash 5 with EZ Match game for a decade but says she felt a "divine" pull to buy a £1.50 ($2) ticket from a local supermarket.
She told The Washington Post: "I just don’t think people are just lucky. I think that if God’s got something for you, he’s going to see that you get it."
The draw was the same night but unaware the winning numbers had already been announced, Mary spent the next day refreshing the lottery's website expecting the ball unveiling.
Mary's confusion then became apparent and when she eventually checked out Thursday’s winning numbers, she was left "shaking".
The only issue was that earlier that night Mary binned the ticket with several losing ones, and together with her husband entered a panicked frenzy digging for it through rubbish.
Finally she recovered it but a soaking from a drizzle of coffee meant her phone failed to scan it. A couple of hours later and Mary's ticket was confirmed as a winner and owed a tidy pay out.
Retired healthcare worker, Mary said that her win was not luck but an act of God, as will be how she splashes her winnings.
"I’m waiting on God’s plan," she said.
A lucky lottery-winning family who want to build a Hollywood mega mansion have been hit with waves of objections by locals.
Lisa Charters’ parents scooped a whopping £33million jackpot and decided to share it with their daughter, who is trying to splash the cash on a spectacular new house.
But almost 50 residents have slammed her plans to convert a bungalow into a lavish palace complete with a view over Edinburgh castle.
