Illinois winner of $552M Mega Millions jackpot claims lottery prize
The Illinois winner of a $552 million Mega Millions jackpot has claimed their prize, the Illinois Lottery announced Monday.
The video in this story is from a previous report
The winning ticket for last Tuesday's jackpot was purchased on the Illinois Lottery website.
"I was scrolling through my emails when I saw one from the Illinois Lottery saying to check my numbers because I won a prize," the winner, who requested to remain anonymous, said. "In the past, I've won $2 here or $5 there, so I assumed it would be similar.
"You can't imagine my shock and disbelief when I saw that I had won the jackpot amount of $552 million. I actually quit the app and then signed back in to double check and make sure it was real. It was real alright - but it still feels unreal!."
The winning numbers were 19, 37, 40, 63 and 69, plus Mega Ball 17.
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"I was raised by a single mom and throughout my childhood, she had to work two jobs to provide for our family, to put food on the table, and for us to get an education," the winner said. "The day after I graduated from high school, I started working and I haven't stopped since."
The winner added, "I am a hard worker. I've spent my life as a laborer and once I was making a decent living, I asked my mom to retire and let me take care of her. It was my way of thanking her for how much she sacrificed for us. I haven't told her yet about this life-changing windfall but when that time comes, we're all going to be shedding some happy tears."
The win was the ninth largest in Mega Millions history and the second largest prize won in Illinois after a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot winning ticket was sold in Des Plaines in July 2022
Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 each; in most jurisdictions, players can add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes.
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Drawings take place at 10 p.m. Central Time on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The overall odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24; the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
