Mother and Daughter Split $7 Million New York Lottery Prize
Wednesday August 12th 2015A mother and daughter from New York City have just become millionaires - and it’s all thanks to a hairdresser running late. Marilyn Looney, 82, and her daughter Carol Prevete, 50, have been buying scratchcards and lottery tickets and splitting any prizes won for years. “The most we ever shared before this was somewhere around $20,000 to $29,000,” Carol told lottery officials.
Marilyn, a breast cancer patient about to start her third round of chemotherapy, had gone to the hairdresser for an appointment, but seeing that the salon was busy, she made her way over to the Mili Cards and Smoke Shop to buy a $7,000,000 Golden Ticket scratchcard. Instead of removing the cover, she asked the clerk to scan the $25 ticket to see if it was a winner because it was too sunny for her to read what the terminal said. “He read it and said ‘My God, lady, you’re a millionaire!’” said Marilyn. She quickly called her daughter to share the good news and then visited her husband, Martin, in the nursing home where he lives. “His face lit up and he started to cry,” said Marilyn, saying that he told her that he “knew he had married a winner” when he first met her.
Both Marilyn and her daughter will receive $2.3 million after taxes. Marilyn intends to buy a house to share with her daughter and her family. Carol plans to pay off her mortgage and put some of the money towards college costs for her 13-year-old triplets. “Three kids going into college at once? That’s dumbfounding how to pay for that - a big boulder off our shoulders,” Carol told NBC4 New York.
The New York Lottery sells a variety of scratchcards as well as tickets for big draw games like Powerball, Mega Millions and New York Lotto, which is offering a jackpot of $33 million for tonight’s draw. Visit the New York Lottery page to learn more about all the fun you could have playing these great games. Get the whole family involved and see what you could win!
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