Eva Corpening of Salisbury said that something told her to purchase a Carolina Cash 5 ticket that would soon be worth $236,832.
Corpening is a retired assembly worker and regular lottery player who enjoys playing Carolina Pick 3. On Friday, she was on her way to her hairdresser when she felt the need to stop at the Pop Shoppe on East Innes Street.
“I never ever play Cash 5,” Corpening said in a news release. “I had already bought a Pick 3 ticket for the night drawing, but something inside me said I needed to stop and buy one Cash 5 ticket. I don’t know what that something was, but I’m sure glad it told me.”
Corpening learned that she’d matched all five numbers late Friday night while checking the evening’s drawing on the lottery’s website.
“I was sitting there at home and I looked at my ticket a few times,” said Corpening, who beat odds of 1 in 575,757 to win the jackpot. “Then I got really nervous and started trembling. I ran to the bedroom to wake up my husband, but of course he didn’t believe me at first. He got up and looked at the numbers with me and then I knew it was true.”
Corpening plans to use her winnings, worth $161,046 after state and federal taxes were withheld, to share with her three sons and travel.
“It’s a blessing,” said Corpening as she received her winnings. “That’s all I can say. It’s just a blessing.”