Pella Woman Buys First Lottery Ticket, Wins $250,000 Lottery Prize
Destiny Lawson Claims Top Prize In '$250,000 Extreme Cash' Game
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CLIVE, Iowa - Two days after her 21st birthday, a Pella woman bought a lottery ticket for the first time and won a $250,000 prize.
"I'm amazed right now, like in shock," Destiny Lawson said on Wednesday as she claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Clive. "It definitely has not sunk in yet. I still think I'm dreaming right now."
Lawson, an assistant manager at Casey's, 2421 Washington St. in Pella, decided to buy an "$250,000 Extreme Cash" scratch ticket before she started her shift. She thought the ticket was a nonwinner until she scanned it with the Iowa Lottery mobile app.
"I checked it on the app and it said that I had won $250,000 and I thought the app was lying to me," she said. "So I checked it on the lottery (self-checker) at Casey's, and sure enough, it was not lying to me."
She said it's been difficult to convince people she really won, but it has been helpful to have a screenshot of the lottery app from when she scanned her ticket.
"I've only told like 10 people, maybe, and they're all like, 'You're lying!'" she said with a laugh. "I've had to send them all the picture and I'm like, 'No, I'm not!'"
Lawson said she plans to put part of her winnings toward rent, an upcoming European vacation and a new car. She also plans to share some with her brother.
"Normally I consider myself not lucky," she said. "But today, I'm definitely lucky."
The $250,000 Extreme Cash game is a $20 scratch game that features 16 top prizes of $250,000, 16 prizes of $10,000 and overall odds of 1 in 2.55. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit ialottery.com.
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