‘Felt like I couldn’t breathe.’ 21-year-old wins $2 million Michigan lottery prize

A 21-year-old woman who likes to buy lottery tickets while out of town was left in shock when one of her purchases led to a really big win.

The Macomb County woman bought the winning ticket at Parnall Food Mart in Jackson, according to a June 16 news release from the Michigan Lottery. That’s about 100 miles southwest of her home county in the northern Detroit metropolitan area.

“Every time I am in a different town, I like to buy a couple Lottery tickets,” she told lottery officials. “I scratched the ticket when I got in my car and when I saw I’d won $2 million, I felt like I couldn’t breathe because I was in such shock. It was an unbelievable feeling!”

When the woman went to claim her prize, she was given the choice of a one-time $1.3 million payment after taxes or 30 annual payments worth the full $2 million.

She chose the lump sum payment, officials say, and said she plans to invest her newfound cash.

This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 2:00 PM with the headline "‘Felt like I couldn’t breathe.’ 21-year-old wins $2 million Michigan lottery prize."