A Prince George’s County medical assistant credits a timely reminder from her sister for a last-minute Lottery stop that resulted in a $50,000 top prize win.
Speaking March 12 when she claimed the prize, the family-oriented player said she was driving home after a long day of work when her sister, who shares her love of Maryland Lottery games, called to remind her to play her numbers. The call prompted a quick detour to the Wawa at 2151 Brooks Drive in District Heights.
Inside the store, she purchased several draw game tickets along with a $10 scratch-off and was nearly out the door when she decided to return and buy one more ticket — a $5 Winning Streak scratch-off.
Her usual routine is to partially scratch tickets and scan them later using the Lottery app. When she attempted to scan the ticket at home, however, the app displayed a message instructing her to bring the ticket to a retailer.
“When I tried to see how much I won, it said, ‘Bring to retailer,’” she recalled.
Sensing something was different, she fully scratched the ticket and revealed a ladybug symbol matching the winning symbol for the game’s top prize.
“There’s no way I see the ladybug,” she said, recalling her disbelief.
After realizing the win was real, she ran downstairs to share the news with her husband and children, who were equally stunned and excited. She then called her sister, whose earlier reminder set the events in motion.
The winner said she plans to use the prize money to purchase new furniture, take a family trip to Belize and help cover travel expenses for her daughter’s competitive cheer competitions.
“This is so much of a blessing,” she said.
Wawa where the ticket was purchased will receive a $500 bonus for selling the top-prize-winning ticket.
