Woman wins $1 million in lottery after canceled flight left her looking to ‘pass the time’
There are worse ways to wait.
While having a flight canceled is usually an inconvenience, it worked out very well for one woman in Florida. While trying to figure out what to do, she decided to pick up a lottery ticket from a convenience store.
She ended up picking a $1 million winner.
Angela Caravella, from Kansas City, Mo., opted for the one-time, lump-sum payment of $790,000, according to a press release from the Florida Lottery. She bought the scratch-off game ticket from a Publix in Brandon, which is located near Tampa.
Earlier that day, her flight had been canceled, which is what caused her to go to Publix in the first place.
Caravella told the Florida Lottery, “I had a feeling something bizarre was going to happen after my flight was canceled unexpectedly. I bought a few Scratch-Off tickets to pass the time and just like that – I won $1 million!”
The store that she purchased the ticket from will receive a bonus $2,000 for selling the winning ticket. Caravella claimed her prize at the Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee.
According to the Florida Lottery, scratch-off games are responsible for about 75 percent of ticket sales in the state’s lottery. The games have generated over $1 billion for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund in 2019-2020.
Overall, the Florida Lottery has contributed more than $39 billion to various education programs or funds in the state and has helped fund scholarships for over 880,000 students.
Since 1988, more than 3,000 people have become millionaires from playing the Florida lottery.