Lottery ticket given as birthday gift was a letdown — until woman finished scratching
“One heck of an astonishing gift” left a Maryland woman with a birthday she’ll never forget.
The Baltimore woman was celebrating her birthday and nearly the “whole family was there,” she told Maryland Lottery officials in a Jan. 27 news release.
But one relative was missing.
“Just minutes away,” the relative was making a quick stop to buy a lottery ticket as a birthday gift, lottery officials said.
When the whole family was present, “it was time to open gifts,” and the woman came across the $5 Holiday Luck Doubler, lottery officials said.
Slowly, she scratched the ticket.
“As I was finishing it, I was disappointed because there were no matches,” she told lottery officials.
But then, as she was scratching the last line of the ticket, she noticed a big win.
“Everyone went crazy when I told them I’d won $50,000,” the winner said. “They all wanted to see it and touch it. It was the most hugs I’ve ever gotten.”
The ticket was finally returned to the woman, who “whispered a prayer of thanks.”
“It’s a day I’ll never forget,” she told lottery officials.
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Lottery ticket given as birthday gift was a letdown — until woman finished scratching."
