Debbie Hetrick of Accident, with her husband Mike, celebrates her $10,000 Mega Millions win! |
Playing Mega Millions during the jackpot’s journey to the historic $1.537 billion prize was no accident for a homemaker hailing from Accident, Md. Winning a $10,000 third-tier prize in the Oct. 19 drawing was a welcome treat for player Debbie Hetrick.
“Powerball is really the game that I play every week,” said Debbie. “But, with that big jackpot amount, I just had to play Mega Millions too.”
The winner, originally from Accident, is moving to a new home in Grantsville. She purchased her winning quick-pick ticket from Grantsville Liquors at 163 Main Street in her new neighborhood.
“I wasn’t even thinking that I would win anything,” she said, joking, “I thought I’d just make a donation to the winners.”
As luck would have it, she did win. It wasn’t the $1.537 billion jackpot, but she did match four of the white balls and the Mega Ball. Debbie was sleeping when the drawing aired, but awoke when her husband Mike came home from work. She decided to check her numbers on the Maryland Lottery app on her phone and could not believe her eyes.
“I checked, checked and checked again,” said Debbie with a big smile. “I told Mike, ‘I think we won some money.’ ” Her husband wanted to know how much, but she didn’t know for sure until she checked the prize structure chart. Still not totally convinced, Debbie took the lucky ticket back to Grantsville Liquors for confirmation. She was indeed a winner!
Heeding the advice of the store cashier, Debbie signed her ticket and put it away in her purse. She had a restless and exciting week waiting for Mike, a truck driver, to have a day off from work to bring her to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim the prize.
Debbie plans to save most of her winnings but may use some funds for repairs on their new home and for the holidays. Her husband said, “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”