COVID Frontliner, Nurse Wins $200,000 From Lottery Scratch-Off On Her First Day Of Retirement

A Kentucky woman who worked as a frontline nurse during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic reportedly won $200,000 from a lottery scratch-off ticket on the first day of her retirement.

The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, reportedly bought the winning $10 scratch-off ticket at a Double Kwik store in Prestonburg on the first day of her retirement after 36 years in the nursing profession.

Soon after she bought the ticket, she began scratching it off and noticed that she matched number 20 on the final row. She then proceeded to scratch the prize amount and realized that she had won a lottery prize of $200,000, USA Today reported.

“It was unbelievable,” she said. “I had just retired that day. I saw this as a sign it was meant to be for me to quit working.”

According to the lottery officials, the woman drove to the lottery headquarters in Louisville last week and claimed her prize money amounting to $142,000 after taxes, WBKO reported.

Nearly half a dozen nurses have won lotteries amounting to $1 million across the U.S.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a retired licensed practical nurse won a $410,000 lottery prize for an Oct. 28 night drawing.

Catherine Dopson, of El Dorado, a retired licensed practical nurse, and a tattoo artist, claimed her $410,000 lottery prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) Claim Center on Friday, Nov. 5, according to Magnolia Reporter.

Dopson purchased the winning $1 Natural State Jackpot (NSJ) ticket at Little’s Grocery, located at 2702 Haynesville Highway in El Dorado.

Dopson's winning numbers for the Oct. 28 night’s drawing were 4, 18, 20, 23, and 27. She regularly plays the dates of her wedding anniversary, her birthday, and her children’s birthdays.

Dopson, who was at Little’s Grocery on Saturday, Oct. 30, noticed that someone had won the jackpot. However, she didn’t realize that she was the winner.

She returned to the store two days later on Monday morning, Nov. 1, to grab a few items and check her ticket and realized that she had won the lottery.

“I was in total shock! I almost didn’t buy a ticket for that night’s drawing, but my gut and the Lord told me to go ahead and get one, and it paid off,” she said.

When asked about how she plans to spend the prize money, Dopson said that she plans to pay her bills, help her family, and donate some of the winning prize money to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.