Winner hopes the prize will convince her husband to retire
By Kate Northrop
ROCKWELL, N.C. — A North Carolina woman could not hold back the tears after winning a "life-changing" Fast Play jackpot worth $723,755.
To say Cynthia Neely of Gold Hill was overwhelmed with joy was an understatement — the tears did not stop flowing even as she drove all the way home after winning an entire North Carolina Lottery Fast Play jackpot.
On July 11, Neely's $10 "Jackpot 7's" Fast Play purchase won her 100% of the jackpot at the Kangaroo Express on East Main Street in Rockwell.
"I think I cried all the way home," she told the Lottery.
At first, she thought someone else had won the progressive jackpot right before she had bought her own ticket.
"When I got in the truck and saw my first ticket said the jackpot was back to $20,000, I thought, 'Oh darn, somebody already won the jackpot,'" she recalled.
That somebody was her. Upon taking a closer look at her tickets, she saw that she was the one who had actually won the $723,755 jackpot.
"I had to convince myself that I had the winning ticket," the winner laughed while collecting her prize. "It is a life-changing amount of money."
Since Neely had wagered $10 on the jackpot at the time of purchasing her tickets, she took home 100% of the jackpot amount. Having collected her prize on Friday at Lottery headquarters in Raleigh, she took home $515,678 after state and federal taxes.
"I'm going to try to talk my husband into retiring soon," Neely concluded.
Aside from potentially convincing her husband to retire, Neely said she plans to give some money to her church, invest, and maybe take a trip with her husband.
Fast Play features a progressive jackpot that grows every time a ticket is sold until it is won. Since this morning, the North Carolina Fast Play jackpot has grown to over $167,000.
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Congrats to the lucky lady.
Convince hubby to retire soon....... All for that one... Congrats Cynthia !! Enjoy your newly acquired wealth.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
I have known a few several men/women to retire at barely upper middle age (57 years old) and another 1 i do know is lil younger 55, so that is a great thing, when you "can retire before early 60s." Great win here, god bless her. I do not really play that 1 only sporadically.
I am so very happy for her, as I do well at Pick 4, but i love to see others win pick 4
to cash 5 nc, fast play,
to others games, so nice, happy for her, and GOOD LUCK to all who are playing their lottery games, later tonight.
bye now.
Good for her.
Congrats to her and him. That's the true American dream. To be able to chose to retire before you really "retire".
Didn't say how old her husband is, but if he is under 60 and without any other source of retirement income, $half a million won't be enough. Especially after "giving some money to her church and maybe take a trip with her husband".
Worked with two guys that split a $20 million Ohio Lotto jackpot and both had over 30 years service and filled out retirement papers on their way back from lottery headquarters. Hopefully Mr. Neely is in a similar situation.