A 61-year-old woman in Pennsylvania recently won a whopping $1 million (Rs 8.3 crore ) lottery from a scratch-off ticket bought from a gas station in March. However, her victory was bittersweet as she lost her husband just two weeks after her big win, ABC 12 reported.
Karen Coffman, 61, was awarded the $1 million lottery prize on Thursday, June 13, after winning a scratch-off ticket in March, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. However, just two weeks, her husband of 31 years died from a brain tumour at the age of 62. After being awarded the $1 million cheque, she described the moment as ''bittersweet.''
During his final days, her husband had expressed concern about her financial security without him. "Throughout the years, I kept telling him, 'You watch, one of these days, I am going to hit the million,'" Ms Coffman told KDKA.
"You watch and see, and he would just laugh at me and say, 'Yeah, right.' And I was like, 'Come on, with my luck. You know I am going to hit.' And then whenever I hit, I said to him, I said, 'Rob, you can go ahead and go. You don't have to worry. I'll be ok.''
Following Coffman's win, Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne who presented her with a commemorative check, said, ''We're thrilled to present Karen with a commemorative check for $1 million as we celebrate her winning this Scratch-Off prize.''
He added, ''Her win is also a reminder that the Pennsylvanian Lottery funds several programs for older Pennsylvanians that support them and help them lead fulfilling lives.''
She is now making plans to check off a few bucket list items with her grandkids: Disney World, then deep-sea fishing. ''(Fishing) was me and the husband's thing. Then, I got my grandson started on it, and he fishes and I said, 'let's go deep-sea fishing,'' Ms Coffman said.
She also plans to resume playing the lottery when things settle down.
