Washington, Aug 24 (EFE).- A Massachusetts woman who was the sole winner of a $758.7 million Powerball jackpot, the second-largest lottery prize in United States history, said Thursday she told her employer she would not be returning to work.
The winning ticket in Wednesday night’s drawing was sold to 53-year-old Mavis Wanczyk at a convenience store in Chicopee, a town 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Boston, the Massachusetts State Lottery said.
“I had a pipe dream and my pipe dream finally came true,” the mother of two said during a news conference, adding that she had phoned the medical center where she had been working for 32 years to inform them she would not be coming back.
“I just want to sit back and relax … I wanted to retire and it came early,” Wanczyk said.
She will receive the full $758.7-million if she chooses to receive her prize in 29 yearly payments; if she chooses to receive it in a lump sum (the choice of most lottery winners), the amount will be $443.3 million minus federal and state taxes.
The winning numbers were 6, 7, 16, 23, 26 and 4 (the final “Powerball” number).
Wanczyk said some of the numbers were birth dates of family members while others were chosen randomly.
Asked if she planned to treat herself to an expensive gift like a new car, she said she had just purchased one less than a year ago and now planned to pay it off.
Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot was the biggest since January 2016, when three winners in California, Florida and Tennessee split a world-record $1.6 billion prize.
Powerball is offered by 44 US states, the District of Columbia (Washington DC), Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.