86-year-old woman in Pennsylvania hits $1.5m jackpot

• An 86-year-old woman from Pennsylvania just won a $1.5m scratch-off lottery prize
• The lottery win came after the woman had been experimenting with a new $30 scratch-off game for a few days
• Thanks to the money, the woman will be able to buy a new house, following a personal calamity that saw her old home ruined

It is never too late to get lucky, and the example of one octogenarian from Pennsylvania is definitely a case in point. The 86-year-old woman has recently won a massive $1,500,000 jackpot from the Pennsylvania Lottery and was willing to share details about the happy event with the public.

Woman who tried new $30 scratch-off ticket wins it big from the PA Lottery

The woman, Rita Franczyk, received a commemorative check and posed for the customary photo op with Pennsylvania Lottery Press Secretary Ewa Swope. All told, Franczyk used a visit to the Giant Eagle in Allegheny Township to purchase the ticket.

It was a habit of hers, and she called it her "social time." The $30 scratch-off ticket, however, would lead to a massive "little treat," the words she usually used to dabble in the lottery.

Usually, Franczyk would only play the $10 scratch-off tickets, but the store clerk showed her the new $30 Super Star Scratch-Off, and the woman was tempted. She would normally buy two or three tickets worth $10 each, but decided to try the new one.

The big prize didn’t drop immediately, however, with the woman winning $50 from her first try. But then, Franczyk asked herself: why not? She scooped a second ticket from the same game and just like that - the seven-figure prize materialized.

Franczyk could hardly believe it, but the store clerk confirmed it. The store clerks were just as thrilled as the staff hosting the commemorative check ceremony, with the woman being a loyal and long-standing customer.

Making up for lost time

"I’m grateful, and I’m thankful to everybody involved, and thank you, God," Franczyk said. The money could not have come at a better time. Franczyk’s husband passed away in 2020, and she experienced another calamity when the apartment above hers flooded and ruined her apartment.

"I lost everything," she said about the event. Therefore, the money can be immediately put to good use, with Franczyk planning to buy a new "ranch-type, small average home and move there."

She is also planning to have her daughter, Cecchi, and her husband, if they would be willing to come.

While Franczyk may have won a huge prize from the Pennsylvania Lottery, she has no intention to stop either.

As she puts it, "I don’t play to win," highlighting the social and recreational character of the hobby.

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