Kentucky woman makes lottery history with $5M scratch off win on her birthday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) — A south-central Kentucky woman has made Kentucky lottery history.

Lottery officials announced on Tuesday, May 13, that an anonymous woman instantly won $5 million on a Kentucky Lottery scratch-off ticket, marking the largest scratch-off prize ever won in Kentucky Lottery history.

It also happened to be the winner’s birthday.

“I was shocked! I didn’t know what to think,” she told lottery officials.

She said she and the store clerk were both taken by surprise when the ticket she matched the number 46 on the second to the last row, winning the $5 million top prize.

“She was shaking. She was tore up,” her fiancé said. “I thought she was pulling my leg at first. I was really excited for her.” 

The winner and her fiancé made the trip to lottery headquarters to claim her check. Rather than receive $250,000 a year for 20 years, she chose to take the lump sum cash payment of $3.4 million and received a check for $2,448,000 after taxes. 

The Kentucky Lottery said tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at the amount.

““We don’t see money like this. I’m still in shock and it just doesn’t seem real,” she said. “This birthday is going to be hard to beat.”

The couple reportedly plans on buying a home with her winnings.

Grand Mart in Tompkinsville will receive $34,000 for selling the winning ticket. 

Just on April 28, a Georgetown mother-son duo cashed in a record-breaking Powerball ticket worth $167 million, the largest prize ever awarded at the Kentucky Lottery headquarters.