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RETIREE WINS $1 MILLION POWERBALL PRIZE
July 25, 2012
Sarah Carpenter, a retiree from the small town of Waxhaw in Union County, won a big prize playing Powerball: $1 million.
On Saturday, the day of the drawing, she was leaving the pharmacy of the Harris Teeter on Kensington Drive in Waxhaw when she decided to buy one ticket for $2.
It sat in Carpenter’s purse until Sunday night when her husband reminded her to check it. Carpenter called the lottery’s player hotline and, one by one, heard the winning numbers begin to match hers.
“I said, ‘Oh, here’s a 9, then 31 – I’ve got that too, and 38,’” she recalled. “I stopped and said, ‘I’ve got all five of these.’”
Carpenter thought she’d won $200,000 until her daughter looked up the prize for matching all five white balls on the lottery’s website.
“She said ‘Mama – it’s a million!’ and we started to holler,” Carpenter said.
Had the Powerball number on Carpenter’s ticket been a 20 instead of a 21, she would have won the $110 million jackpot. Instead, the jackpot rolled to $121 million for Wednesday’s drawing.
“A million’s enough for me,” Carpenter said as she collected her winnings at headquarters. “I’m just so happy I can’t stand it.”
Carpenter and her husband had modest plans for their winnings, which totaled $680,000 after taxes. She said they would share with their three adult children, give to their church, pay bills, and save the rest.
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