By WECT Staff | September 28, 2020 at 4:05 PM EDT – Updated September 28 at 4:05 PM
RALEIGH, N.C. (WECT) – A Brunswick County woman woke up to a welcome surprise earlier this month.
On Sept. 3, Donna Graziose, of Leland, received an email letting her know she was the winner of a $100,000 Powerball prize.
After confirming the numbers online, she woke up her husband to share her good news.
“But he didn’t believe me,” said Graziose a former 911 operator of 31 years. “It was very exciting in the morning to wake up to that.”
She purchased a $3 Power Play ticket for the Sept. 2 drawing on the lottery’s website.
Graziose’s ticket matched the numbers of four white balls and the Powerball, beating odds of 1 in 900,000 to win a $50,000 prize. Her prize doubled to $100,000 after the 2x multiplier was drawn because she paid $1 more for Power Play.
She took home $70,751 after required federal and state tax withholdings.
Graziose said she and her husband will use the winnings to “pay off our cars and the rest will go into savings.”
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