Mom caring for hospitalized son buys $5 worth of lottery tickets — and wins big in NC

A Florida mother taking care of her hospitalized son in North Carolina couldn’t believe her luck.

That’s because Donna Reed’s lottery ticket won her $167,635, according to the NC Education lottery.

While looking after her son’s home in Bryson City in western North Carolina, Reed stopped at Ingles Markets on Hughes Branch Road to buy a $5 worth of Cash 5 Quick Pick tickets, lottery officials said.

“I put that five bucks to good use, wouldn’t you say,” the Florida resident said in a news release.

She “was one of three winners who matched all five numbers” on Nov. 28, according to the lottery service. The $502,905 jackpot was split three ways.

The other winning tickets were bought at the Han-Dee Hugo gas station on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh and through online play in Wilson, lottery officials said.

Reed took home $118,602 after taxes, according to the lottery service.

“It’s really like a dream,” Reed said in the release. “It’s just a wonderful feeling. I honestly still can’t believe it.”

She plans on using her winnings to pay for her son’s medical bills and buy him a truck.

This isn’t Reed’s first lottery victory. She won $500,000 in the Florida lottery after buying a $5 GOLD RUSH scratch-off ticket in 2016, lottery officials said.

Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings take place every night.

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