North Carolina Mom Believes She Has Won the Largest Powerball Jackpot Ever!
A North Carolina mother recently picked and won in one of the three winners of the $564 million Powerball Jackpot lottery, which is the third largest prize ever.
Marie Holmes, a 26-year-old North Carolina mother of four, told local stations WECT news and WWAY-TV that she believes she is one of the winners.
In a report by USA Today, Holmes thought that she was going to have a heart attack when she saw the ticket and checked it. Holmes, who is not a frequent lottery player, said she was forced to quit her jobs at Walmart and McDonald's to care for her children, one of whom has cerebral palsy.
She said she intends to first pay her tithes to the church, and then set up college funds for her children. "I wouldn't have none of it if it wasn't for God," said Holmes, who is from Shallotte in Brunswick County, where lottery officials say a winning ticket was sold.
North Carolina Education Lottery officials have not confirmed Holmes as the winner. In a statement, the lottery state lottery spokesman Van Denton said an attorney representing a person who claims to have one of the winning tickets contacted lottery officials to say "no immediate claim of the prize is planned."
A winner has 180 days to claim the prize in North Carolina.
"We won't know who has the winning ticket until it is brought to lottery headquarters," said Alice Garland, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery, in the statement. "We hope anyone who has the great luck to win a prize like this will seek sound professional advice before making a claim. A win like this is truly life-changing and we should expect the person who is going through this to take the time to make the best decisions they can. We look forward to meeting the winner."