Lottery player scores ‘bittersweet’ prize, gets to tell husband weeks before he dies
A Pennsylvania woman could hardly believe her $1 million lottery prize, though the life-changing win was “bittersweet.”
Karen Coffman, 61, got to share the good news with her husband, who died from a brain tumor just two weeks later, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery.
“’I told you I was going to hit a million,’” Coffman recalled telling him, WTAE reported. “I don’t know if he understood that, because it was coming towards the end and we knew it was coming,”
On June 13, the Armstrong County woman was presented with a $1 million check at the BP gas station in Freeport where she purchased the winning ticket.
Coffman recalled the moment she scanned her $1,000,000 Game scratch-off and realized it was a winner.
“I thought, ‘This can’t be right!’ “ she told lottery officials. “The guy working there said, ‘What’s wrong?’ I said, ‘Look!’ He starts counting the zeroes and we then just started jumping up and down, hugging.”
This isn’t her first big lottery win. Coffman said she won $65,000 on a scratch-off game she purchased from the same BP station more than a decade ago.
She said she already has big plans for her winnings, including deep-sea fishing and a family trip to Disney World, according to WTAE. She also told lottery officials she’s considering a move to Florida.
“I’m so done with the snow!” she added.
Coffman beat odds of 1 in 1,680,000 to win the $1,000,000 Game’s top prize, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery. A single $1 million prize remains up for grabs.
Freeport is about a 30-mile drive northeast from downtown Pittsburgh.
This story was originally published June 14, 2024 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Lottery player scores ‘bittersweet’ prize, gets to tell husband weeks before he dies."